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May. 1959 



3 



The 
Macdonald 
College 

Diploma Course 
in Agriculture 

An opportunity for young 
farmers. 

What is the Diploma 
course? 

It is a practical course in agri- 
culture designed to meet the 
needs of those who have 
chosen farming as a career. 
The course consists of two 
5 month sessions held Oc- 
tober to March, this being 
the time of year which inter- 
feres least with farm opera- 
tions. 

Course of Study 

Includes Problems of Live- 
stock Farming, Growing of 
Field Crops, Poultry Produc- 
tion and Management, Fruits 
and Vegetables, Farm Me- 
chanics. 

What Does It Cost? 

For children of farmers in 
Quebec, the Ottawa Valley 
and the Maritimes, ^35 per 
term. All others, ^125.00 
Room and board, ^320.00 per 
session. Total ^355.00. Sev- 
eral bursaries are available 
which may help to reduce 
this. 

Entrance Requirements 

You must have passed your 
16th birthday and have a 
practical knowledge of farm 
operations. Completion of 
high schooling is not a re- 
quirement. 

For further information 
write 

THE REGISTRAR 
Macdonald College, 
Quebec. 



INDEX 

Macdonald Farm 



Vol. 20, No. 5 May, 1959 

One Price For All Milk? o 

The Potato Problem 7 

Letters 8 

What the Farm Forums Think .. 10 

Timely to Push Sheep 12 

How Fat? 14 

Country Lane 15 

Short Story 16 

Better Impulse 18 

Hail the Queen 19 

Marriage Partnership 20 

One Day's Poison 23 

Month with the W.I 26 

Recipes 28 

The Macdonald Farm Journal is the 



official monthly publication of Mac- 
donald College, McGill University. 
Address all communications for both 
advertising or editorial matter to 
the Editor, H. Gordon Green, Orms- 
town, Quebec. 



REVISED ADVERTISING RATES 
FOR THE MACDONALD FARM 
JOURNAL 

Effective May 1, 1959 
Published by Macdonald College, Que. 
Issued monthly, 15th. Closing date 



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BRAEMANOR 
FARMS 

Dewittyille, Que. 




Aberdeen-Angus Breeder 

Improvement cattle of 
all ages for sale. 

Mr. & Mrs. Bruce McKellar 



Owners 
Tel. ORMSTOWN 600R4 
VISITORS WELCOME 



Looking For a Boar? 

Now offering 3X boors of 
seryiceoble age. 

These are sired by Ranche 
Duke 220L, son of Ranche 
Queen, Grand Champion 
at the Royal Winter Fair, 
1956; and also at Bran- 
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In YORKSHIRES its 

HOOKER BROS. 

Phone 627-r-12 
Ormstown, Que. 

"For the type which wins in the 
show ring as well as on the rail." 



Macdonald Farm Journa 



Editorial 



Vertical Integration 



Opportunity 



THE federal government dis- 
approves of vertical integra- 
tion or contract farming. The 
Minister of Agriculture recently 
stated in the House of Commons 
that he had instructed the Agri- 
cultural Stabilization Board to 
''actively explore the method of 
providing price supports for hogs 
by means of a payment to produc- 
ers, commonly described as a de- 
ficiency payment, rather than by 
undertaking to purchase product". 
The reason given for the deficien- 
cy payment approach is that it 
**. . . would make it possible to 
withhold payments from commer- 
cial organizations operating under 
the so-called vertical integration 
plan . . . This positive statement 
against vertical integration or 
contract farming is very signifi- 
cant. Workers at Macdonald Col- 
lege have considered this problem 
over the past two or three years, 
and perhaps in typical academic 
fashion have been reluctant to 
come out strongly on one side or 
the other. 

There are real advantages to be 
secured through vertical integra- 
tion. In the first place it makes 
available to the farm industry a 
technology which would otherwise 
not be available. It also makes 
available to farmers credit w^hich 
they apparently cannot secure 
through existing channels. On the 
other hand, it is often stated that 
vertical integration will operate 
so as to destroy the opportunity 
of the small to medium sized farm 
to secure a market for products 
which are under integrated pro- 
duction. It is also claimed that the 
contracts are sometimes written in 
terms which protect the contractor 
and can be used against the in- 
terests of the farmer. These 



charges may be true. But they will 
be decreasingly true in the future. 
The major contractors in the ver- 
tical integration field are feed 
suppliers and meat packers who 
have dealt with Canadian farm- 
ers over a long period of years. 
They have much to lose by being 
party to tricky contracts. 

Nonetheless, vertical integration 
does present real problems. It is 
in this sense that agricultural co- 
operatives and agricultural mar- 
keting boards might prevent the 
situation from getting out of 
hand. Co-operatives are among 
the most important suppliers of 
feeds and other materials provid- 
ed by the integrators and thus 
might be expected naturally to en- 
gage in the integration process 
themselves. And to the extent that 
co-operatives do engage in this 
process, there would be little dan- 
ger of loss of independence of the 
individual farm operator. In fact, 
since the government is so con- 
cerned about the evils of integra- 
tion, it could make a very con- 
structive step in the direction of 
helping co-operatives to engage in 
the process. This could be an 
achieved extension of the Agricul- 
tural Products Co-operative Mar- 
keting Act of 1939 in the direction 
of guaranteeing the financing of 
co-operatives which wish to help 
their members to integrate and 
thus to compete with private inte- 
grators. 

At the same time we feel that 
producer marketing boards organ- 
ized under provincial legislation 
may also materially assist in over- 
coming some of the difficulties in- 
volved in vertical integration. At 
least this matter should be exam- 
ined. It is significant, for ins- 
tance, that in the Southern Unit- 



ed States some farmers who ha 
had experience with vertical in. 
tegration involving private con- 
tractors have turned to the orgar, 
ization of farmer bargaining units, 
It may seem odd that they have 
to turn to labour unions as their 
bargaining agents. If any situa- 
tion requiring the organization of 
farmers into such bargaining units 
should arrive in Canada, their bar- 
gaining unit might naturally be 
producer boards. Such an ar- 
rangement would give the farmer^ 
full legal rights to bargain on ; 
provisions of the contract ar- 
rangement. In fact the adaptabil- 
ity of the producer board arrange- 
ment to such schemes is illustrated 
in the fact that all of the existing 
producer board negotiating or bar- 
gaining arrangements are con- 
tracts between producer and mar- 
keting groups. To employ the 
rights which are given to farmers 
under provincial boards, legisla- 
tion would be a means of minim- 
izing any possible abuse. 

It is the hope of Macdonald Col- 
lege that integration arrange 
ments sponsored by co-operative; 
and those which would provide tb 
bargaining through producei 
boards may be the means of alle 
viating any concern about the ini 
pact of the integration process oi 
Canadian agriculture. 



WHAT MAKES A GOOD 
FARMER? 

It isn't *'love of the soil," inves 
tigators Arthur H. Brayfield am 
Mary M. Marsh (Kansas Stat 
College of Agriculture and Appliei 
Science) discovered. A check o 
fifty Kansas farmers, all ex- G.I s 
showed that the most proficien 
weren't necessarily those 
were most satisfied with farming 
nor were the most satisfied th 
most proficient. The traits whic 
seemed to make for farming sik 
cess were good sense, mechanics 
ability, skill in handling implf 
ments and equipment, preferenc 
for outdoor activities, optimisi 
and — contrary to the popular coi 
ception of farmers as ornery- 
sociability and a liking for people 



Any article in this magazine may be reprinted if the source and the author are credited. The Macdonald 
Farm Journal is owned and edited by Macdonald College, and all correspondence concerning' material appear- 
ing in it should be addressed either to the College or to the Editor. Subscription rate: $1.00*' per 3 years. 



Editor, H, GORDON GREEN, Ormstown, Que. 



Authorized as second class mail, Post Office Department, Ottawa. 



May. 1959 



One Price For All Milk? 

A frank discussion about one of the most contentious suggestions ever made 
about the problem of milk marketing. 



By Les Young 

Sec'y, Quebec Farm Forum 



pijf S it time that Quebec d a i r y 
gaitl farmers received the same 
t'price for all top quality milk, 
iia^whether it be used by the bottling 
uci trade, ice cream manufacturer or 
?!c butter maker? Such a "pooled 
ar^iprice*' has been discussed by the 
coF^Dairy Farmers of Canada at their 
biannual meeting and more recently 
oartby Ontario dairy producers. A pool 
ij or blend price system is already 
fikoperating in British Columbia and 
iaiii|in England and Wales. 
J Quebec is the *'Dairy Province 
of Canada" exceeding in milk pro- 
jjiuction the Province of Ontario. 
j,]^.It is, perhaps, time that Quebec 
producers gave some thought to 
jijjjmilk ''price pooling." 
jyj^ Under a price pooling program 
j^^^producers of top quality milk 
, would receive the same price for 
'™ their product, no matter how it 
J^'might be used. Thus, producers 
'"^Ihaving milk of a quality accept- 
5 able to the bottle trade and pro- 
^J^ duced under acceptable conditions, 
^"'would receive the same price as 
^■^■'fluid milk shippers (the blend 
^ price) even though their milk 
__jnight go to the butter maker. 

Each processor w^ould have to 
l^j^ubmit the amount of milk he re- 
Ij 3eived of the prescribed quality, 
along with the manner in vv^hich 
^j She milk was used, to an indepen- 
gjjdent body. This body would then 
l^jjdetermine the blend price by cal- 
,g j,,3ulating so much milk at cheese 
I price, so much at butter price and 
^],50 much at bottle trade price. Once 
:;he blend price was calculated, the 
•processors selling most of their 
^l^milk on the high priced market 
^jivould have to pay into the pool 
'^Jjjiand their money would be paid out 
' )f the pool to processors selling 
a low priced market. All pro- 
^^pessors could then pay their pro- 
*iucers the same price. 
^^^^ The Ontario Dairy Commission- 
if'^ 2r, Mr. Everett Biggs, who outlin- 
eP'Bd a suggested price pooling plan 
2^ for Ontario producers, stated that 
iii?:hree groups would be involved; 
^.he government, processors and 
producers. He said that he thought 
g |che most satisfactory operation of 
gjia.!! price pool could be achieved if 
] y«i government inspectors checked 
farms to see that their production 
Jnits were up to quality require- 
ments and if government person- 
lel administered the pool and cal- 




The trend m dairying everywhere is toward larger herds, labor saving machines and 
more and more production. Is the farmer to suffer from his own efficiency? 



culated the blend price. 

A blend price for milk would not 
disrupt present shipping prac- 
tices. Farmers could still ship to 
the processors of their choice al- 
though under a blend price system 
all factories would pay the same. 
If producers did not wish to bring 
their production facilities and the 
quality of their milk up to the 
prescribed standards for the blend 
price, they could continue to ship 
to processors utilizing inferior 
quality milk and would receive 
lower prices than the blend price 
— the ''going" price for the qual- 
ity of milk being shipped. 

Many reasons can be advanced 
in support of a blend price scheme. 
First, it would encourage the pro- 
duction of top quality milk, al- 
though it would not force farm- 
ers to raise their standards. 

Such a program would do away 
with the protected fluid market 
and the ''contract" as we know 
them to-day. Milk would be paid 
for on the basis of quality only 
and not, as far as the producer 
would be concerned, on the basis 
of how it would be used. Under 
such a plan the manufacturing 
milk producer whose product is of 
a high quality would receive the 
same price as would the shipper 
to the fluid market. At present, 
no matter how high the quality of 



his milk, a condensery shipper re- 
ceives the price of that class of 
milk — classed not according to 
quality but to utilization. 

There would be no need for 
fluid producers to establish "quo- 
tas". It is being argued to-day 
that fluid producers, trying to 
establish higher quotas, overpro- 
duce and dump their surplus on 
the manufacturing milk market 
thus depressing the price received 
by manufacturing milk produc- 
ers. This situation would be elim- 
inated, and all producers would 
have the same incentive for ex- 
pansion and the same penalty for 
over-production. 

In some parts of Ontario it has 
been reliably reported that some 
fluid milk shippers are paying 
processors "kickbacks" so that the 
particular processor to whom they 
ship will be able to gain an unfair 
advantage over his competitors. 
Such practices would disappear 
with a blend price. 

Economies of transportation 
could be gained too. The criss- 
crossing of truck routes could be 
eliminated and transportation 
costs cut. Also, milk could go to 
the nearest plant as long as there 
could be equitable distribution 
among plants. 

(Turn to page 6) 



6 

Undoubtedly a plan to blend 
milk prices for quality products 
will meet with opposition. Fluid 
milk shippers who presently enjoy 
a protected market will probably 
be the most unhappy of all. It is 
possible that some processors will 
take exception to it, although there 
seems to be no reason for them 
to do so. It ought to be in the best 
interests of the whole dairy indus- 
try, and stabilizing influence. 

"As soon as he swaller, he starts 
again". That line from Leetle Ba- 
teese describes agriculture to-day. 
No sooner does a farmer change 
one of his practices that science 
and technology come up with a 
better one. The farm family must 
keep abreast of these changes if 
the family farm is to survive. The 
solution of all the other problems 
confronting agriculture . . . mar- 
keting, credit, over-supply . . . v^ill 
not be sufficient, even with govern- 
ment handouts, to keep the farmer 
in business who cannot adjust. 

To promote and assist farmers 
toward this end a network of ex- 
tension services has been built up 
over the years. It includes the 
press, radio, agricultural colleges 
and experimental stations, farm 
organizations and government 
services, which take in the county 
agronomes. Yet in a recent sur- 
vey, more than half the farm for- 
ums in Quebec gave as the main 
reason that they didn't make more 
use of extension services for the 
fact that they don't know what 
services are available. Others 
said they were too busy to think 
about them, that they were care- 
less and lacked initiative, that 
they did not have confidence in 
the services, or that they were 
afraid of the cost. 

Of all the extension services, 
those of the Quebec Department of 
Agriculture, and more particular- 
ly the "agronome" service is the 
least fully understood according to 
farmers' replies. 

Agronomes, employed by the 
Quebec Department of Agricul- 
ture, are located in every county 
of agricultural importance. Mr. 
J.-E. Dube, in charge of them and 
Director of Extension for Quebec, 
describes their work. 'The agro- 
nomes can readily cope with al- 
most every (agricultural) ques- 
tion ... By means of radio, net- 
works, newspapers, bulletins and 
circulars, lectures to agricultural 
meetings, he promotes the neces- 
sary changes in agriculture." 

However, Mr. Dube adds: "Too 
many people expect the agronome 
to do the work instead of giving 
advice. Some prefer to have him 



do the secretarial work of the local 
organizations rather than follov^r 
short courses given by him . . . 
The agronome does not control 
parity, market prices, cost of sup- 
plies and labour, capital invest- 
ments; he is only the man v^ith 
whom should be studied the input- 
output relationships, to establish 
the highest profit combination." 

The agronome's job is not an 
easy one. His position as a civil 
servant requires him to steer clear 
of politics. In this Province it is 
doubtful if the agronome receives 
as much pay as his background 
and training might bring him if 
applied elsewhere. He is bound by 
some regulations. Lately, he is ad- 
visor and consultant to all the 
farmers in his county. 

The 1956 census showed that in 
Compton County there were 2,108 
farms, Chateauguay boasted 1,279 
and Brome, 1,155 while Missisquoi 
had 1,311, Papineau had 1,761 and 
Pontiac contained 1,482. Allowing 
two agronomes per county it is 
obvious that it is physically im- 
possible for the agronomes to visit 
each farmer. 

Under these conditions it is es- 
sential that the agronome should 
draw up a program of work and 
devise methods of work which will 
make available his services to the 
maximum number of farmers. Mr. 
Dube mentioned the mass media 
. . . radio, press, bulletins, . . and 
that the agronome should work 
through agricultural meetings and 
short courses. He puts stress on 
short courses where, in the auth- 
or's opinion, it should be. 

General agricultural informa- 
tion and news is being well provid- 
ed by the press and radio. How- 
ever, the information in the press 
needs to be supplemented by ex- 
planations as to how it can be 
applied to local conditions and 
practices. There will also be farm- 
ers who have specific questions 
requiring answers. This is a job 
which can be adequately done only 
by someone in the locality who 
is respected and trusted by farm- 
ers and who is familiar with local 
conditions. To reach the largest 
number of farmers it must be 
done at group meetings. 

This doesn't rule out farm visits 
by the agronome. He will have to 
do some visiting to keep up-to-date 
on local problems and to set up 
demonstrations to prove whatever 
is being recommended. 

Mr. Dube has pointedly stated 
that agronomes should not do the 
secretarial work for local organi- 
zations. Organizations will become 
weakened if the agronome does 



Macdonald Farm Journal 

riiis work for any length of time 
as members will come to depend 
too much on him. Farmers should 
not abuse agronomes by asking 
them to do such work. Agronome^ 
are advisory or consultant specia 
ists and not errand boys. 

Farmers have some responsibil- 
ities toward their agronoines. 
Those who can't be bothered to 
roll themselves out of the rocking 
chair ought to realize that the 
rest of the world isn't too con- 
cerned either. They should have 
initiative to go to the agronome, 
not wait for him to come to them, 
and to co-operate with him by at- 
tending meetings and short 
courses. They should also be able 
to exercise some patience, for the 
agronome may be busy with one of 
the 1000 other farmers. 

The few farmers, who hang 
back from asking advice because 
of cost ought first to find out cost 
before worrying. Sometimes im- 
provements are worth many tiir. 
their cost. Those farmers who a 
"too busy" ought to stop long 
enough to make sure they are be- 
ing busy in the most sensible way, 
Many improvements are labour 
saving. 

As for knowing what extensioi 
services are available, the onus ii 
on the farmer, individually am 
through his farm organization, ti 
find out. The mass media am 
agronomes also provide this typi 
of information. As far as the agro 
nome's services are concerned 
farmers should suggest the sub 
jects about which they want id 
formation. In some places jus 
across the U.S. border groups o 
farmers sit down with the agrc 
nome and help him plan his wor 
to meet their needs in a matte 
that will benefit the most peopl< 
Unfortunately, very few agr( 
nomes have any kind of trainin 
about how to make their service 
available to the most farmers, a 
though they are specialists i 
agriculture. It is therefore moi 
important that farmers do as muc 
as they can to help. 

If farmers are to obtain the bei 
work from their agronome, an 
the agronome the optimum C' 
operation from the farmers, th( 
must recognize that each has re 
ponsibilities to the other. Farme: 
should look upon the agronome i 
an advisor or consultant who 
services are available to them, ai 
whose salary their taxes help 
pay. They should co-operate 
him and not be afraid to ma 
constructive suggestions. Mc 
agronomes would like farmers 
take more interest in their woi 



May, 1959 



7 



What Is The Potato 
Problem? 

By Helen David 

Prov. Conv. of Agnculfrure 

a ^ planting time is rolling 
around fast, we would like to 
l)jjisay a word about potatoes, parti- 
{|,cularly Quebec potatoes. 

So many farmers have gone to 
raising potatoes in large quanti- 
jj,.. ties for financial reasons and 
ij,^ bought a lot of expensive machin- 
jjj'ery. Then in our markets and su- 
j permarkets urban housewives buy 
^j,^ Maritime potatoes instead of our 
own Quebec potatoes and at a 
greater cost. When our Quebec po- 
'1, tatoes are less than two cents a 
!j pound, why will consumers pay so 
^much more for imported potatoes? 

Recently the matter was brought 
|-to my attention that Quebec pota- 
^^:,toes are such poor quality, poorly 
^' graded and dark in color when 
^Jcooked. 

^ |, First, what is the reason for 
I'this poor quality? There is a mar- 
, ket for good eating potatoes. Are 
V there really good reasons why we 
" cannot grow them in Quebec? 

We hear so much about certi- 
Hed seed these days and that the 
potato has been treated for differ- 
^'^ ent diseases. Soil conservation 
■^Should help for good growing condi- 
! " tions and there is spraying to save 
the potato from blight. Then there 
'^'" are sprays to kill the green tops so 
^ the crops can be harvested. Is it 
'^' possible all these insecticides and 
sprays affect the quality of the 
potato ? 

A recent article states, ''Sprays 
'^'':and dusts can control late blight 
diseases in potato crops, but in 
"'years of heavy infection even as 
''^ many as ten spray treatments have 
:not been able to check it. The Can. 
''^'Dept. of Agriculture continues the 
t^|"research for material to breed re- 
t 'distant varieties, but often they 
sftave found resistance at the cost of 
potato quality." 

ir'^ However, there is no excuse for 
poor grading and packaging. Here 
)Ws what 4H Clubs did in one Prov- 
fnnce — Cleaned and graded pota- 
oftoes, and put them in clear 10 Id. 
Wastic bags. The Clubs were cer- 
eat^bainly rewarded for their effort. 
0 Now this week I read in one of 
Mhur Farm Magazines, 'Totato In- 
suWustry turns to Processing." This 
et^'will enable housewives to pick po- 
ta5s:atoes off the grocery shelves in 
o#:ancy, lightweight packages, just 
[bidding hot water and milk — and 
0^ou will get your hearts desire, 
ke i^aybe. 



ler: 




Don MacDonald of the Family Herald looks through an important new pamphlet 
published by Macdonald College in conjunction with the Quebec Department of 
Agriculture. Entitled "Pastures in Quebec" the booklet offers a complete but easily 
read summary of legumes suitable for this province along with recommendations 
for the various soils. Methods of seeding ore fully discussed and special attention 
is given to the subject of long term pastures. This is an invaluable handbook for 
anyone interested in obtaining the utmost from his grass acreage. 




Photo taken at the National Salon of Agriculture lost February when a certificate 
was presented by the R.O.P. Breeders Association for services rendered to the 
Quebec Poultry Industry, to Prof. W. A. Mow, co-chairman of the Quebec Poultry 
Committee; chairman of the poultry industry at Macdonald College and vice- 
president of the Salon of Agriculture. 



Is this what is going to happen to 
our Quebec grown potatoes? 

Let us have the right quality 
and I am sure we will prefer to 
peel our own potatoes and are not 
looking forward to joining the 
unionized housewives and a 40 hour 



week. If we are Women's Insti- 
tute members, we do like modern 
conveniences, but a limit. 

I wish you all succcess in your 
spring gardens and crops and 
health. 



Macoonald Farm Journal 



Letters for our 




I REMEMBER WHEN . . . 

Dear Editor: 

Remembering, and having ex- 
perienced conditions of that time, 
(Consolidation discussion, Feb. 
issue of the Journal) and consi- 
dering that St. Anne was more 
centrally located and much better 
supplied with railway accommo- 
dation, which was of much im- 
portance in those days, gives the 
idea that there are some things 
to be considered besides tobacco. 

It is not easy for any one who 
did not experience the conditions 
at that time to realize the diffi- 
culties of transportation on the lo- 
cal roads. 

We do not suppose there was 
any hard surfaced road in the dis- 
trict outside of the village streets, 
and no one who did live in this 
flat country could imagine the con- 
dition of the roads in the spring 
or in wet weather, also during 
the Winter months. 

The story is told of a farmer 
from the upper concession, who 
was rather noted for the good 
horses he kept, who started for 
the village in a two ivheeled cart, 
the only vehicle he thought the 
horse might handle. He got bog- 
ged in the road and with help got 
the horse unhitched and to the 
side of the road and then salvag- 
ed the cart and continued the trip 
on foot. 

Near one of the local schools in 
the district we were ivitness of a 
similar incident. When the frost 
was coming out in the spring the 
scholars would amuse themselves 
by shoving a stick four feet into 
the mud. There ivas naturally 
hardly any traffic except on foot 
but one day a man came along in 
a light buggy. 

As in the other case related his 
horse also got bogged in the mud, 
and with the help of a neighbor- 
ing farmer got the horse out and 
then pulled the buggy out by hand. 
It was good entertainment for the 
scholars. 

When the highway ivest of the 
village was being built with what 



was called water bound macadam 
the tveather became wet. At the 
place the road was f inished a man 
was seen walking down the newly 
finished road and surprisingly the 
road seemed to be springing un- 
derfoot. On investigating, sure 
enough, that road just finished 
the day before, was floating and 
would spring under a man's 
weight. The next spring the road 
disintegrated to some extent and 
when investigated it ivas found 
that is was about two feet wider 
than it had been built. It had just 
squatted out. There was no heavy 
traffic as we know it today. All 
the work was done with horses. 

The winter roads were also a 
problem. The sleigh track in the 
centre of the road would build up 
until it was as high as the fences 
alongside. There was no turning 
off the track when it got to that 
stage. Drivers of vehicles would 
watch the traffic ahead and one 
or the other would stop at a farm- 
er's gate or other suitable spot, so 
that a passing could be made. 

Each farmer ivas responsible for 
the upkeep of the road opposite his 
property. 

When the conditions became 
serious the more public spirited 
ones would hitch an ordinary 
walking plough between the front 
and rear sleighs of his bobsleighs 
and chain a V shaped affair to the 
side of his rear sleigh and so try 
to lower the tracks. 

Some of these contraptions did 
a surprisingly good job. 

Crowding horses were not un- 
common. When the roads got built 
up a horse might step a little to 
the edge of the track and the foot 
would sink into the soft snow. 
Naturally the horse would step 
away from the edge and maybe 
give the other horse a bit of a 
shove. The other horse might then 
step into the soft snow and they 
would both be shoving. This was 
particularly the case with heavy 
horses. When this happened the 
driver would stop the team for a 
minute or two to sort of let them 
forget. He might also shorten the 



inside lines a little so as to pull 
the horses' heads together. Thk 
had a tendency to make them pi 
out and at least they could not 
push so hard. The next idea 
to let them croivd for a ivhile, then 
stop at a convenient spot, unhitd 
the horses and put them on tk 
opposite sides of the pole leaving 
the short lines to the inside. Now 
the horses having been shoving hari 
to the right or left as the cm 
would be, ivould naturally lean to 
the same side as before, which 
would be outivard. Some times, if 
conditions were not too bad, thu 
might work, at least to get homt 
The last resort, if the load ivas not 
too heavy was to tie back one eni 
of the evener and make one horn 
pull the load, leading the other he- 
hind. The whole performance wai 
very trying on the driver's temper. 

One old mare %ve had ivas a 
chronic case. When she was' taken 
out of the stable into that horrihh 
white stuff she would immediatek 
look for something to crowii 
against. 

When the roads built up as de- 
scribed the loads had to be care 
fully balanced or the sleighs wouk 
cut off to the heavy side. Thei 
toward Spring ivhen the sun de- 
veloped a little heat the tracks or 
the East West roads would softer 
and cut on the north side, th 
north track might cut into th 
soft snow until there was a mr 
row cut twelve to fifteen inches 
deep. 

The south track, on account o. 
the more solid centre of the roai. 
would not cut so much. The slei§^ 
would scrape along with one run 
ner down in the cut and the othe\ 
upon the track. The horse h(i( 
hard going. It could not walk 
the deep cut and there was no 
enough of the track left to 'Wdh 
on so it had just to stagger alon\ 
as best it could. 

This tvould hardly be compU^ 
unless we mentioned the cow hoU 
(cahots). There was very heav 
traffic on the sideroads north fl^ 
south of the village, particularl 
on the south road. 



May, 1959 



Almost all heavy hauling as off 
6i gravel and logs and such was done 
. i on sleighs. These roads w o uld 
build up and then wear into a 
^. succession of these cow holes. It 
|[ ivas surprising how a heavy load 
)J. would get along. The rear sleigh 
^ sliding down one side of the hol- 
low would help to push the front 
sleigh on the up slope and +he 
front sleigh sliding down into the 
next hollow would help to pull the 
rear sleigh out of the last one. 
The single sleigh did not go so 
N well. It would sort of rear up out 
A of one hollow and then flop into 
the next. The idea was to pull a 
I « little to the righ t so that the right 
^li runner would scrape on the side of 
I Iff; the hole and so the flop was not 
poll quite so severe, but it teas hard 
k going at the best. One of the local 
doctors of that time would let his 
im horse jog right along. 

His progress was something to 
iKii see. 

J^' When the upkeep of the roads 
''^ was taken over by Council, a plough 
was invented for plowing the 
J"*^ roads. Draivn by one or teams as 
the case needed, it made a fairly 
^' good job of levelling the snow. 
For some years after Consolida- 



1^* tion the sleigh busses were in gen- 
eral use in the winter months and 
often had heavy going. 

m 

y In stormy weather the roads 
J If were not often ploughed in time 

for the morning trip and when 
1^,, ploughed would commence to fill up 
, again immediately. The horses 

might have to proceed at a walk 

much of the way. 

So considering these and other 
it, things and forgetting all about the 
ik tobacco story, ivhich is likely over- 

played anyway. Consolidation at 
li^that time would have been a very 
^Anteresting experiment to say the 
\ !( least. No need to say that we 
ilimight have improved roads soon- 

er if consolidation had been ac- 
pcomplished at that time. The idea 

is not new, and ive know that road 

making had to be learned and in 
fj^many cases the present roads are 
^\,built on top of the failures of the 
■il»past. Sorry it had not been tried. 



Sincerely yours. 
Old Timer 



erM 

^1 In a tavern, where the Dublin 
Abbey Players gather, they were 
lifting and telling a few. ''And 
we're exporting more Irish butter 
Ih now." 

I if! . 

,^ Said someone at the bar, "And 
j^^we package it in small Pats!" 




The Easter bunny came to Halifax in a big way. The rabbits numbered 180 when 
they started their journey by air and train from a farm in Kansas for St. Pierre et 
Miquelon. About 30 died during the trip and here Halifax veterinary Dr. K. R 
Ainslie gives them a check up during their Easter visit. They are consigned to the 
Societe Des Chasseurs, a hunting group in St. Pierre. This is the second importation 
li'""* i u'"!?^^-'"*? *H ^^^"^ shipment of Ontario jackrabbits was 

collected by H. Gordon Green for the St. Pierre government and these were after- 
ward released on the island of Miquelon. 



WANTS AN AUTOMATIC 
EAVE TROUGH 

Dear Sir: 

I read ivith interest your Faryn 
Journal of February, and was par- 
ticularly intrigued with the article 
on winterproofing a water system. 

My problem is the prevention of 
ice formation on the edge of my 
roof causing the snow to melt and 
back up and eventually leak into 
the house. 

Do you know of any supplier of 
such thermostatically controlled 
heating wires that could be install- 
ed on the edge of the roof to pre- 
vent this heavy ice formation? 
Any information you could supply 
ivould be greatly appreciated. 
C. R. Vail 
Rawdon, Que. 



Then the udders are ivashed 
with baby soap, dried with a clean 
towel {one to each cow) and dust- 
ed tvith talcum powder. The feet 
are ivashed with penicillin and are 
then cleaned with boot polish. 

Next the cow's rear ends are 
ivashed and sprayed tvith eau de 
cologne. If any dung happens to 
be dropped in a weak moment, we 
stop all milking and remove it 200 
yards doivnwind from the milking 
stable. The gutter is then cleaned 
down with 10% creolin solution, 

I cannot give further details 
as it is a half an hour since we 
finished morning milking and its 
time now to get ready for the 
evening chores. 

Yours for perfection 
Huntingdon, Que. 



THE HEIGHT OF SOMETHING 

Dear Editor: 

I guess your readers have been 
having the same kind of trouble 
that we have had recently to please 
all the various health and milk in- 
spectors who plague the dairy in- 
dustry in Canada. So I thought I 
ivould tell you how we manage 
the problem in our new set-up. Ab- 
solute cleanliness is our aim. Be- 
fore milking, a hot bath and mani- 
cure, clean underwear for all hands 
and a newly starched overall. We 
all suck SenSens in case our breath 
might taint the milk and give a 
handful to each cow. 




10 



Macdonald Farm Journal 



THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

gives a 



Report to the Province 




What the Farm Forums Think About Integration 

Summary of Forum opinions reveals that some farmers are hoping for the 
best, more are alarmed and all are contused. 
By Rodger Schwass 



DESPITE the fact that about 
700 Panel Discussions are 
supposed to have been held 
throughout Canada during the 
past several months on the sub- 
ject of Vertical Integration, farm 
people seem to have had only 
enough information to v^het their 
interest. During the three v^eeks 
in which Farm Forum looked at 
Vertical Integration, the most fre- 
quent single query was, ''Where 
can we get more information"? 

Perhaps it is significant that, of 
over 400 forums reporting, only 
about one third have members who 
personally have contracted a part 
of their farm production. The 
other two thirds of the forums 
want to know what contracts are 
available however, and some of 
them admit that they would like to 
enter a contract as soon as pos- 
sible. 

Farm forum people have accept- 
ed the idea that vertical integra- 
tion is here to stay. Early in the 
series the question was asked, 
"What do you fear most from ver- 
tical integration"? The most com- 
mon answers were, Loss of Free- 
dom and Loss of Control of our 
Products. Half of the forums feel 
that Control of the Product can 
be regained through co-operation. 
Co-operation : 

Four-fifths of the members of 
Farm Forum across Canada be- 
lieve in co-operation to obtain their 
goals of freedom and control of 
their own industry. Just about 
400 of the 500 forums reporting 
felt that vertical integration is 
likely to help them stay in busi- 
ness, provided their co-operative 
is in a competitive position. Some 
of the forums felt that co-ops are 
not keeping up with the times in 
many parts of the country, and 
that they must make available 
large quantities of Credit through 
contracts or otherwise, in order to 



compete with independent business 

concerns. One forum said, 

''As an organization the farm 
co-ops have a responsibility 
to their membership to act 
as leaders in farm market- 
ing and processing. Their 
duty is to develop trends ad- 
vantageous to farmers rath- 
er than follow willy-nibly a 
pattern designed for the ben- 
e f it of middlemen and 
others". 

Marketing Boards and their 
functions are not too familiar to 
some forum members, but they are 
regarded as one of the first steps 
necessary in the organization of 
effective farm action. A forum 
comment that was repeated sev- 
eral times was: 

''The groups agreed that we 
must have farm marketing 
boards ivith the co-ops form- 
ing the backbone of the or- 
ganization." 
Contracts : 

While only about one third of 
the forum members had actual 
experience with contracts, nearly 
all of them knew someone who had. 
Comments and reaction to con- 
tracts and terms involved were as 
varied as the documents them- 
selves. One group pointed out: 

"The individual should study 
the whole question of Inte- 
gration and contracts with 
care and consult the farm 
organization legal adviser 
before signing. If possible, 
the contract should be ob- 
tained from the local co-op- 
erative." 
Another maintained: 

"The organization {co-op) 
should have some system or 
contract which would benefit 
its members, perhaps a Field- 
man as well; to protect the 
contractor from the hands of 
the businessman." 



Still another forum said: 
"From what we have heei' 
able to gather from the ra- 
dio broadcasts and the fam 
papers, it appears that tk 
man under contract is doini 
fine. The question is, How 
Long?? Another damagini 
fcbctor 'Will be over-produc- 
tian created by this mass 
production that seems to k 
taking over." 
Education : 

Nearly all of the forums report- 
ing felt that too little information 
has been given by their co-ops on 
this subject. 
For example: 

"How many of us as average 
farmers could decipher a 
contract of this nature? It 
puts too much power in tk 
hands of big companies wk 
will control the markets ani 
eventually the people on tk 
land. Are our co-ops ad 
farm organizations prepar- 
ing men to advise us, so tki 
ive may handle this threats 
7 he farming populace nedi 
educating on what is gooi 
for them — or their so-calld 
independence will be a detri- 
ment" . 
Another said: 

"Farm organizations ninsi 
become the educational hodi 
to give direction and act 
a n agricultural watchdo§ 
over integration." 
About 250 out of the 500 for- 
ums asked for development of ini- 
proved educational facilities in 
their farm organizations and co- 
operatives. 
Small Farmers: 

Most of the forums felt thai 
Vertical Integration would prove 
to be the end of the marginal 
farmer and the small farmer who 
did not choose to expand. One 
forum said: 



May, 1959 



11 



'7 / vertical integration 
makes farming more profit- 
able, more people ivill go in- 
to it. With supervised pro- 
duction, the unit can be pro- 
duced more cheaply and of 
higher quality. The margin- 
[ al farmer ivill be forced to 
drop out.'' 
Some groups pointed out that: 
''It will help the small farm- 
er starting out in business 
without enough cash avail- 
able. It may help some of the 
younger farmers. But only 
a few farmers will have con- 
tracts . 

Generally, this was the feeling: 
''We feel that if we allow 
vertical integration to grow 
in its present form, a way of 
life will be lost. We will be 
working for large enterpris- 
es. The present farmer may 
benefit but he tvill leave 
nothing for his wife and 
children. We must band to- 
gether to preserve freedom 
of enterprise and our ivay of 
life and of the family farm 
for the future.'* 
The Community : 

The most often repeated com- 
ment about vertical integration is 
that it will result in the destruc- 
tion of the community, unless some 
new industries are brought in to 
produce employment. 

"We have already seen what 
happens when a large opera- 
tor buys up a lot of land and 
puts hired hands on it — 
Neither he nor his men are 
the least bit interested in the 
Comm unity". 
Another forum put it this way: 
"Most farmers oppose ver- 
tical integration because of 
the fact that the small land- 
owners; the family-type 
farmers, tvill be forced out 
of business. They will lose 
their sidelines, livestock and 
poultry, and may not have 
sufficient capital to support 
their wives and families. 
This will eventually force 
these farmers to leave and 
search elsewhere for a liv- 
ing. This in turn tvill have 
a serious effect on our so- 
cial life. Community life may 
vanish in some places and 
will iveaken in others. Our 
whole nation may change..'* 
A slightly diferent note was 
introduced by this group. 

"Loss of control of product, 
land and stock, or disappear- 
ance of the community . . . 
are not necessarily a conse- 
quence of integration. If the 



farmer is prepared to organ- 
ize himself and take charge 
of his own holding with better 
personal organization, there 
is every reason to believe that 
substantial benefits to him- 
self and his industry would 
result". 
Security : 

Many of the arguments advanc- 
ed in favour of contracts have 
used Security of income as a ma- 
jor point. Most of the forums felt 
that this security did not exist. 
"The product of contract 
farming might lose its ap- 
peal to the consumer, since 
some say that mass produc- 
tion of broilers has produc- 
ed a tasteless meat; and that 
hogs, if pushed too hard, 
might do the same . . '* 
"A few years ago, farmers in 
this district fed turkeys on 
contract, but got left with 
the birds when the contrac- 
tor would not take the fin- 
ished birds". 

"We are going to try to stay 
in business (independently) 
in spite of vertical integra- 
tion and the surpluses it is 
causing. From what we have 
seen of contract farming in 
our forum, we think it has 
only been a help to the feed 
companies and those ivho let 
their contracts" . . . 
"If a farmer goes in for 
large scale production of 
broilers, turkeys or eggs and 
finds after a year or two 
that the contractor no longer 
tvants his product, he is left 
with a lot of equipment and 
large buildings that are of 
no use to him." 
Some of them told such stories 
as this: 

"The man under contract 
was all right as long as the 
contract lasted, but as soon 
as the processor had too large 
an inventory they stopped 
the contract. The processor 
was all right . . . No security 
in that!!" 
Summing up, the 6000 forum 
members who took part in the dis- 
cussions left one predominant im- 
pression. They want more leader- 
ship in the fields of : Credit, Mar- 
keting and Processing, Contract 
Interpretation. They want more 
Education from their organiza- 
tions: to enable them to fit into 
new patterns and to these organ- 
izations. Forum members want 
this leadership from all of their 
co-operative enterprises . . . Or- 
ganizations, Credit Unions, Pools, 
Marketing Boards and Co-opera- 



tives . . . both local and regional. 
One forum put it this way: 
"Organizations should en- 
deavour to find the best mar- 
kets and channels to dispose 
of our products. They should 
also organize meetings at 
many places to educate us on 
the various aspects of verti- 
cal integration and our new 
role. We ivant to knoiv all 
about bargaining, — with or 
without handling the prod- 
uct". 

1. The central co-operatives 
should take a leading role as 
integrator to handle the mar- 
keting and processing of all 
farm produce. 

2. The Credit Unions and 
Credit Societies should look 
to the possibility of becom- 
ing the supplier of financial 
backing where necessary; 

3. Farm organizations could 
become the educational body 
to give direction and act as 
an agricultural watch-dog 
over integration." 



WEATHER AFFECTS 
FERTILIZER RESULTS 

The amount of moisture in the 
soil at planting time will deter- 
mine, to a considerable degree, the 
effect of fertilizer you apply. If 
the soil is moist at planting time, 
soil scientists say you can pour on 
the nitrogen and get your money's 
worth. However, if the corn ground 
is dry this spring, corn can use 
only about half the rate suggested 
when growing conditions are good. 

At North Dakota under moist 
conditions, using 40 pounds of ni- 
trogen in the starter fertilizer as 
a band application gave food re- 
sults. When the soil was drier, 20 
pounds per acre gave more profit- 
able field increase. 

These recommendations are for 
drilled corn. If you check plants, 
rates should be cut down to about 
20 pounds of nitrogen in wet soils 
and 10 pounds in dry. 

It also is important to include 
phosphate in the starter fertilizer. 
For most soils, it pays to add from 
20 to 40 pounds of available phos- 
phate per acre. 

You run less risk of having ni- 
trogen injure early corn stands if 
you set your planter's fertilizer 
attachment to put the band low 
enough — about two inches below 
the seed. 

If it looks like a good corn year 
for the fertilizer, you can supple- 
ment a band application by broad- 
casting additional fertilizer and 
plowing it down. 



12 

TIMELY TO PUSH SHEEP 
PRODUCTION 

THE slight decline in cattle 
numbers expected to continue 
into 1961 should be a good oppor- 
tunity to push sheep production, a 
pasture expert has reported to the 
Canada Sheep Investigation Com- 
mittee. 

J. B. Campbell of the Swift Cur- 
rent, Sask., Experimental Farm 
suggests that sheep promotion or- 
ganizations take advantage of the 
lessening demand for pasture for 
cattle during this phase. 

However, he qualifies the ob- 
servation with many cautions at- 
tending the increase of flocks. 
Many farmers lack the knowledge 
of native and cultivated grasses 
and legumes necessary to use pas- 
tures to the best advantage. 
Parklands Favorable 

The parklands which run in a 
north-westerly belt across the 
three Prairie provinces provide 
better natural vegetation for 
sheep, or combined sheep and cat- 
tle grazing than the open plains 
where speargrasses abound. More 
pasture land is available in the 
parkland too than in the south 
where the old native grasslands 
have largely been broken up by 
the plow for cereal production. 

Sheep farming should also be a 
profitable venture on irrigated 
land as high yields have been ob- 
tained under tests on irrigated 
pasture. 

The surest way to provide graz- 
ing grounds for sheep is system- 
atic and scientific cultivation, 
says Mr. Campbell who is regard- 
ed as one of the foremost experts 
on this subject in the country. This 
method has been demonstrated 
under relatively dry conditions at 
the Swift Current Experimental 



Farm and could be followed up by 
similar tests in other department 
farms with combinations of 
grasses and legumes to meet the 
local environment. 
Space for Sheep 

Parts of the federal and pro- 
vincial community pastures should 
be developed and fenced off for 
free grazing of sheep which ac- 
tually improves the carrying ca- 
pacity of the land by clearing off 
the shrub cover. 

Mr. Campbell estimates that 
since 1935 there have been some 
49 million acres of unimproved 
land in farms, ranches and com- 
munity pastures in the settled 
areas of Alberta, Saskatchewan 
and Manitoba. The demand for 
pasture reached its peak when live- 
stock population went above 6,- 
000,000 cattle, sheep and horses 
about 1945. There has been anoth- 
er steady increase since 1952 to 
approximately 5.25 million, which 
he expects to decline slightly until 
at least 1961. 

Mr. Campbell suggests that if 
sheep were free grazed over fenc- 
ed bushland they would assist its 
transformation into grass sward 
and save some of the cost of land 
clearing and seedling that has been 
incurred to create more cattle 
pasture. 

HOW SAFE IS THE FARM? 

CANADA'S first national sur- 
vey on farm and farm home 
safety will be conducted over the 
next two months. 

In making the announcement. 
Jack Whyte, Chairman of the 
Agriculture Committee of The 
Canadian Chamber of Commerce, 
said that the 73,000 enrolled in 
4-H Clubs across Canada will be 
playing a key role through report- 



Macdonald Farm Joirnai 

\nf tne accidents on their home 
iamis. The survey, itself, has been 
co-operatively organized and is be- 
ing carried out by the Canadian 
Council on 4-H Clubs, the Provin- 
eial Departments of Agriculture, 
The Canadian Chamber of Com^ 
mer*'t% the Canada Department of 
Agriculture and The Canadian 
Federation of Agriculture. 

"There are no adequate nation- 
al statistics at the present time on 
farm accidents," said Mr. C. A, 
Douglas, President, Canadian 
Council on 4-H Clubs. ''However, 
we do know that farm accidents, 
in addition to causing much suf- 
fering and hardship, are respons- 
ible for serious loss of time, pro- 
duction and income to the farm 
industry. It is hoped that up to 
date information on the kind, 
cause and incidence of farm acci- 
dents will facilitate the develop- 
ment of better farm s^afety pro 
grams in Canada." 

Mr. Whyte said all those con- 
cerned with the survey appealed 
to the farm parents and local 4-H 
Club leaders for assistance and co- 
operation in supplying statistical 
data to 4-H members. Question- 
naires, to be filled out, would 
cover the period January 1 to De- 
cember 31, 1958, and it is hoped 
to have results tabulated by next 
autumn. 

Agriculture and business have 
long been interested in such a sur- 
vey, and are in agreement that a 
co-operative effort is needed to 
develop an effective program of 
national farm safety. Although 
some sectors of Canada have de- 
veloped farm safety programs that 
have produced a lower frequency 
of deaths and accidents, much re- 
mains to be accomplished in this 
field. 




A 140-year-old log house built by Jacob Fry, a United Empire Loyalist, is hauled across Twenty Creek near Jordan, Ont 
The house is being moved four miles from its original site to the Jordan museum where it will be restored as on example 
of early Canadiano. Here, the 40-ton building, its roof removed and the big stone fireplace slung underneath, mokes its 
five-hour crossing of the creek near a bridge that was too narrow. It still has three miles to go, up and down the Niagara 

Escarpmenf. 



May, 1959 

CONFINING QUEEN BEE 
INCREASES HONEY YIELD 

Caging the queen bee increases 
honey yields of package colonies, 
Canada Department of Agricul- 
ture studies have shown. 

Most commercial beekeepers 
purchase package colonies each 
spring and destroy the bees short- 
ly after the honey flow. Towards 
the end of the flow, the colonies 
have many bees that do not gath- 
er honey. 

One frame of honey is required 
to develop one frame of emerged 
bees. Thus, a saving can be effect- 
ed by caging the queen. 

In Ottawa tests, colonies 1 n 
which queens were restricted to 
small cages made of excluder ma- 
terial so that worker bees had free 
access to attend them, produced 
27.3 pounds of honey during a 
three-week period. 

Colonies where queens were con- 
fined to a single comb by means 
of a large excluder cage produced 
an average of 24.8 pounds. 

Those in which the queens were 
allowed to lay freely had an aver- 
age of 17.6 pounds. 

When queens were removed for 
the entire test period, the colonies 
averagsd 21.7 pounds — not a 
significant increase over those 
colonies where the queens were 
not restricted. 

The experiment proved that cag- 
ing the queen for three weeks re- 



pressed brood production without 
having a detrimental effect to 
colony morale and that more of the 
honey stored by the bees appear- 
ed in the crop instead of being 
consumed in futile brood produc- 
tion. 



FARM PRODUCTS MARKETING 
ACT AMENDED 

During the 5th Session of the 
25th Legislature of the Province 
of Ontario just concluded, a num- 
ber of amendments to the Farm 
Products Marketing Act were in- 
troduced and passed. A consider- 
able number of these amendments 
pertain to the conduct of plebis- 
cites to approve or revoke market- 
ing plans. The position of the Farm 
Products Marketing Board, in res- 
pect to powers it delegates to local 
boards, has also been clarified and 
strengthened. The Lieutenant- 
Governor in Council is also em- 
powered to establish, amend or 
revoke marketing plans regard- 
less of any determination of the 
Farm Products Marketing Board 
in respect of a plebiscite. 



CANADA'S POPULATION 

At March 1, 1959 the Bureau of 
Statistics estimated Canada's pop- 
ulation at 17,340,000 — an in- 
crease of 2.3% from a year ago. 



Take the Family 
to the 

Ormstown Exhibition 

June 10-11-12-13 



Quebec's premier spring show. Classes for all types of livestock 
and poultry, horse show every evening, calf scramble and other 
outstanding special events. 



Ayrshires, Jerseys, Swine and poultry will be judged 
Thursday, June 11. 

Holsteins, Canadians, all beef breeds, sheep and goafs will 
be judged Friday, June 12. 

4-H Calf Club class will also be judged Friday. 




DON'T 

PINCH PENNIES 

and 

LOSE DOLLARS 

80% to 90% of the time and money 
spent on fence posts and fencing 
can be saved by using a wood pre- 
servative in the first place. Any 
post, even off your own property, 
whether Cedar, Pine, Spruce, Pop- 
lar and Willow can be made to last 
3 to 5 times longer by simply treat- 
ing the ground line with 'Osmose 
Special Fence Post Mixture". 
*'Osmose'* contains 5 proven in- 
dustrial wood preservatives, each 
more powerful than creosote, tar 
or bluestone. For as little as 4 or 5 
pennies per post, you save many 
dollars later in money and labour 
replacing decayed posts. Use 
"Osmose'' for poles and posts . . . 
for any wood in or near the ground. 




Over 100 major power companies 
have "Osmose'^ treated more than 
3,000,000 poles in U.S. and Canada. 

WOOD ABOVE THE GROUND 
NEEDS PROTECTION TOO! 

Doors, porches, barns, silos, anything 
made of wood can be damaged by mois- 
ture penetrating under the paint film 
. . . causing rot, discolouration, warp- 
ing and peeling. Before painting bare 
wood, apply "Pentox" primer-sealer 
wood preserver. "Pentox" seals the 
pores of the wood against 
moisture with a synthetic 
resin preservative, saves 
paint, keeps the wood in 
good condition for years 
to come. "Pentox" also 
prevents termite attack. 



AVAILABLE 
WHEREVER PAINT 
IS SOLD 







PENTOX 


If 


nUMn-SEALO 






%$ 











14 



Macdonald Farm Journal 



ARGENTINA SLASHES BEEF 
EXPORTS, CONSUMPTION 

The Argentine Meat Board has 
announced a 40% cut in beef ex- 
ports to the U.K. for the first 
quarter of 1959. The U.K. meat 
trade, as a result, is expecting in- 
creases in shipments from Austra- 
lia and New Zealand, together 
with higher domestic prices. 

The Argentine government, at 
the same time, has acted to re- 
duce domestic consumption in 
order to bolster reduced exports. 
Restaurants and hotels are prohi- 
bited from serving beef in any 
form on Mondays and Fridays. 
Starting just before Christmas, 
cattle slaughter in Buenos Aires 
has been restricted to 70% of the 
July 1958 level. A number of the 
smaller slaughterhouses within 
100 miles of the capital were 
closed on January 1st. The Argen- 
tine public has been asked to re- 
duce meat buying by 30%. A re- 
duction of 1/3 in beef exports, 
from 1956 to 1957, has lowered 
the country's foreign exchange 
earnings by $264 million. 



CHICAGO YARDS MAINTAIN 
LEAD 

The Chicago Stock Yards, long 
the largest livestock market in 
the U.S.A., maintained its posi- 
tion in 1958. A total of 4,800,700 



head was consigned for sale last 
year. Following closely were 
Omaha with 4,531,000 head and 
St. Paul with 4,423,000 head. In 
spite of a decrease in U.S. hog 
marketings last year, the number 
of hogs handled by the Chicago 
Yards was 45,000 head above 1957. 



HOW FAT? 

UNTIL recently methods of 
measuring fat on a pig's 
back were, to say the least of it, 
crude," said Alastair Dunnett re- 
cently: *'It was simply a case of 
sticking a needle or ruler into the 
animal's back. This was pleasant 
neither for the animal nor the op- 
erator." 

X-Rays had been tried, but were 
not a great success, so a British 
feed manufacturing firm looked 
round for a better and cheaper 
method. They found it in an in- 
strument which was used in in- 
dustry to measure the depth of 
flaws or impurities in metal cast- 
ings. "This instrument sends a 
high frequency soundwave — so 
high that it cannot be heard by 
the human ear — through the 
back of the pig," said Dunnett. 
'The wave goes through fat but is 
repelled by lean meat. So when the 
waves hits the lean it is reflected 
to the surface of the pig. Record- 
ing instruments show accurately 



how long it took for the sound to 
go through the fat and back again. 
It is then possible to convert these 
time measurements into thickness 
measurements of fat." This very 
simple operation gives no pain 
neither to the operator or the pig. 
and is similar to the method used 
by fishermen in calculating the 
depth of sea shoals. 

One of the main characteristics 
in which pig breeders are inter- 
ested is the thickness of back fat, 
a characteristic which can be 
handed down from generation to 
generation and this ultrasonic in- 
strument is being used in tests on 
young boars at various stages so 
that farmers can choose the right 
type of boar to breed the lean ba- 
con that British housewives pre- 
fer. It would be equally useful in 
breeding fat bacon, and its use is 
not necessarily confined to pigs. 



ONTARIO WARBLE CONTROL 
SEASON STARTS 

The 1959 season for warble fly 
control in Ontario commences on 
April 10th. The first application 
of rotenone will be made between 
that date and April 18th on most 
of the cattle in some 285 town- 
ships, which are under the prov- 
ince's Warble Fly Act. After April 
18th inspectors in each township 
will make every effort to have all 
cattle showing evidence of grubs 
treated. 

Warble fly losses through dam- 
aged carcasses and hides and re- 
duced production amount to thou- 
sands of dollars each week. 



U.K. LIVESTOCK PRICE 
GUARANTEES 

Government price guarantees 
for 1959-60 to U.K. livestock pro- 
ducers are to remain the same for 
cattle and sheep as in 1958-59 
but will be increased by 2.s. per 
score for hogs. 

The price guarantee for cattle 
for 1959-60 is 157/ per live cwt 
($19.06 per 100 lb.). For fat sheep 
and lambs the guarantee is 3/3V2 
d. per lb. dressed ($44.80 per 100 
lb.). For hogs the 1959-60 gua- 
rantee is 46/9 d. per score dead- 
weight ($31.75 per 100 lb.). 



And here's the happy bounding 
flea 

You cannot tell the he from she, 
The sexes look alike you see. 
But she can tell and so can he. 



WHERE TO SHIP YOUR LIVESTOCK? 

To influence the market and to get the most 
out of your livestock 

Ship to your co op abattoirs: 

Legrade Inc., 4445, Iberville Street, Montreal. 
Legrade Inc., 1 d'Estimauville St., Quebec. 
Cooperative Federee de Quebec, Princeville. 

These three packing houses are owned and controlled 
by 380 Quebec farm co-ops. 

Contact your local co-op for prices guaranteed a week 
in advance. 

La COOPERATIVE FEDEREE de QUEBEC 

P.O. BOX 1019 MONTREAL 



May, 1959 



15 



JhsL Country Lane 




MEMORIES AND MOTHER 

/ think I shall visit with you to-day. 
For its lonely and tired I am. 
If it only could be, in reality. 
But memory will close the span. 

Shall I come when the ground is bare and brown. 

Or will I come with the first fall of snow? 

Oh memory, the wonder of wonderful things! 

Tell me the day I should go. 

I shall come as on that day so long ago. 

When the world was bright and fair; 

When life was a series of little joys, 

And my family and friends were there. 

Down the winding path to that little brown house, 

That sits beside the sea. 

To that haren of home, I've always known 

Was heaven upon Earth to me. 

Why mother, how lovely and young you are. 

And the children as sweet as can be! 

What useless devil squeezes at one's eyes. 

That leaves youth without sight to see. 

And who is that girl by the window I see. 

With the light of love in her eyes? 

Enrapt and sweet, and in love with love. 

And the world is her very prize. 

Oh no! It can't be, she was never me! 

That child with the dreams so fine. 

Was she to bloom, too sure, too soon; 

You have only to opine. 

Ah mother, where go the years that roll by? 
Why do some of us laugh, while the rest of us cry? 
And why, when we are little do we want to be high as 
the sky? 

Just to grow old, to wither, to die. 
Oh mother, I have just one thing left. 
And to you I can only say 
I'm glad I have my memories. 
So I can visit with you to-day. 

Vera E. Payne Griffin. 



FULFILLMENT 

by Bonnie Elizabeth Parker 

The down-curved wing of night will find you near; 

The slower, sleepy murmur of the brook 

Will say our mingled names; and there will be. 

Along the edges of the day, a look 

Of bright content. 

A star will slip quite suddenly in front 
Of turquoise-banded curtains in the sky; 
A bird note will float down and I will turn 
To meet your understanding eyes close by 
And be content. 



GRANDMA 

Grandma on a wintry day. 

Milked the cows and fed them hay. 

Saddled the mule. 

And got the children off to school; 

Did the washing, scrubbed the floors, 

Washed some windows and did some chores; 

Cooked a dish of home-dried fruit. 

And pressed her husband's Sunday suit. 

She swept the parlor, and make the bed. 

And baked a dozen loaves of bread; 

Split some firewood and then tugged in 

Enough to fill the kitchen bin. 

Cleaned the lamp, filled it with oil 

And stewed some apples she thought might spoil. 

She made a supper that was delicious 

And afterwards washed all the dishes. 

She fed the cat, and sprinkled the clothes. 

And mended a basketful of hose; 

Opened the organ and began to play, 

''When You Come To The End Of A Perfect Day." 



IN A DISUSED GRAVEYARD 

The living come wiih grassy tread 
To read the gravestones on the hill; 
The graveyard draws the living still. 
But never any more the dead. 

The verses in it say and say: 
''The ones who living come today 
To read the stones and go away 
Tomorrow dead will come to stay." 

So sure of death the marbles rhyme. 
Yet can't help marking all the time 
How no one dead will seem to come. 
What is it men are shrinking from? 

It would be easy to be clever 
And tell the stones: Men hate to die 
And have stopped dying now forever. 
I think they would believe the lie. 



> y .vlACDONALD FARM JOURNAL 

The Devil on his Shoulder 

A memorable story about a man who argued with Satan and almost lost. 

By Roland Wilder 



IT was autumn now. The fields 
were brightly shaven, the down 
of recent threshings still clung to 
the leeward side of barns, and 
the orchards hung heavy with red 
and fragrance. And Angus was out 
this evening with his bagpipes. 

For Angus was in love, and so 
deeply that it stirred his soul to 
the stony bottom, so deeply that he 
wanted to play bagpipes all the 
time. But that love which is the 
most thrilling is also the love of 
uncertainty, and tonight the music 
faltered. First it was joyous and 
strong, and then it faded into 
longing, anxiety, or even fore- 
boding. 

She had asked for this one day 
to consider, and now coming along 
the sideroad that led into the dying 
sun, her legs slim in the golden- 
rod, he could see her walking 
towards him. Angus didn't go to 
meet her. He wasn't the kind to 
make a woman think he was chas- 

I 




ing her. He sat down on a rock 
and fingered the stops of his in- 
strument. 

She was smiling. If Angus 
hadn't known her smile so well 
his heart might have stopped in 
mid-beat for joy. But that smile 
wasn't quite natural. It was the 
smile of effort. 

Angus kissed her gently and 
then held her at arm's length. 
After awhile he said quietly, ''So 
it's no, is it Jeannie?" 

''Couldn't we wait a little An- 
gus? Time means so very little to 
people who love, dear." 

''Is it your father again?" 

"He's a sick man, Angus. And 
an old man. He needs me. He's 
been a good father and I won't 
always have him, you know." 

Only last night she had told 
him the news. Her father had 
sold his farm and he was going 
to the city. The farm was no place 
for a worn old man with asthma, 




"It's too bod that you and 
father must go on being so 
bitter/' she said/' "you're 
I both good men." 



and besides, John Blair had money. 
Stubborn frugality alone had kept 
him toiling away on his farm this 
long — he and his pretty daugh- 
ter. And only last night Angus 
had told Jean simply that now was 
the time for her to make her 
decision. He had bought a little 
shanty and he had it all ready for 
her. Yes, he knew it wasn't much. 
He didn't have a real farm of his 
own yet. He was still making a 
living as a builder, contractor, 
odd-job man or whatever you cared 
to call him. And he knew it would 
be a sacrifice for Jean at first, 
and he knew her father would 
object. The old man would always 
object. Nothing could change that. 

Now he knew the answer: "So 
we mark time waiting for the old 
man to die?" He knew the words 
would cut, but he was getting 
angry in spite of himself. 

She backed out of his reach. 
Her voice was gentle. "It's too 
bad that you and father must go 
on being so bitter. You're both 
good men." 

"Is it my fault that he hates 
me? Can I help it if my father 
was a bootlegger and all the rest? 
Can I help it if my father stole 
your father's steer once and was 
smart enough to get away with 
it? Jeannie, you don't need to try 
to be polite to my feelings. It's 
nice of you to say your father 
wants to have you with him be- 
cause he's sick and he needs you. 
I know the real reason. Your 
father still hates. He still remem- 
bers my father. And he wants 
breeding and background for his 
daughter . . . Maybe he even thinks 
I'm out to get his money." 

He reached out and took her by 
the shoulder. "Yes, I'll bet that's 
it! He thinks I want to marry 
his money! Sure, that's it!" He 
was angry now. 

"He's said some bitter things 
about your family, Angus, and I'm 
not denying that he thinks you're 
of the same breed. But can I help 
that? I have no more control over 
my father's faults than you had 
over yours. But Angus, no matter 
what anyone else thinks, I believe 
in you." She came very close, 
but he thrust her away and picked 
up his pipes to go home. 

She ran after him and her tears 
came. "But I love you, Angus!" 

He stopped just long enough to 
say, "And how can a woman say 



May. 1959 



17 



she loves a man and then choose 
another that hates him?" 

The tears came faster, the words 
smothered in her weeping. ''He's 
my father, Angus!" 

''And he's a dog that's bit me 
for no good reason and some day 
I'll pay him back, so I will! So 
long Jennie." 

She didn't follow and Angus 
didn't look back. But long after 
she had gone back the way she 
had come and long after the rest 
of the farms down the valley had 
blinked off into slumber, Angus 
was striding slowly back and 
forth through the wet goldenrod, 
^ his bagpipes crying softly to the 
night. 

A week later, a car drove into 
the lane. Angus resolved not to go 
out to meet it because it was a 
big shiny affair that had obvious- 
ly come up from the city, and 
whatever their business, Angus 
hated city folk. But the driver 
* didn't need to be met. He bounced 
^ out of the car, bounced up to 
^ the back door and bounced his 
fist on the screen as if he were 
quite the busiest man on earth. 

"My name's Singer," he an- 
nounced. "I'm a real estate agent 
and I've just been looking at a 
little house you built for the town 
clerk the other side of Stumptown 
this summer. We'd like to know if 
you could find time to build an- 
other." 

"Might. If I got my price." 
"What would be your price for 
w a house exactly the same as that 
one?" 

"Same materials all the way 
through. No changes of any kind." 

"How far would I have to drive 
to get this job?" 

"No farther than you did for 
the town clerk's place. We want a 
house on the old Noble farm. An 
li old army man is thinking of tak- 
ing it over. How much?" 

Angus pondered. The man war 
trying to rush him and Angus 
didn't like to be rushed. Still, those 
who demand speed generally don't 
pause to quibble over cost, so 
Angus struck a figure. 

"I took that last job for $4,000," 
he said, "but I was too low. I'll 
liave to pay my help more this 
time and asphalt shingles have 
gone up too. I couldn't do it a chip 
less than four and a half." 

"When can you start?" 

Angus was disturbed by so 
abrupt a surrender. On the one 
hand he accused himself for not 
asking a higher figure, and on 
"the other hand his conscience 
-mote him a little for asking too 
much. He had made a nice little 



pocketful on that last job and 
even if shingles were up now, 
siding was down and in all he 
could build just as cheaply. That 
extra $500 was pure gold. Angus 
said, "I can start tomorrow." 

"Good. Now let's hop in my 
car and go down town. We'll get 
all the arrangements signed off 
legally right this morning." And 
bounce, bounce, bounce, the real 
estate man was heading for the 
gate again. 

That evening Angus went to 
the lumberyard to place his first 
order. Old Pete, the proprietor, 
met him with a smile. "Been ex- 
pecting you," he said. 

Angus pulled out his slip. 

"Hear you've signed to build a 
house for old man Blair," old Pete 
said. 

Angus looked up with a jerk. 
"What did you say?" 

"You're building on the Noble 
place, aren't you?" 

"I'm building for a real estate 
firm down in the city and nobody 
else." 

"Maybe you didn't know that 
just three days ago your friend 
John Blair bought the Noble 
farm." 

"Just three days ago old man 
Blair went to the city, so why 
should he be buying a farm?" 
Angus wanted to know. 

"To make money, maybe. With 
a house on that place it should 
bring a mighty nice price. Ought 
to make one of the best farms in 
the county." 

Angus felt cold purple creeping 
into his gills. "Pete," he said be- 
tween his teeth, "are you joking 
with me?" 

''You have only to ask at the 
courthouse to find out." 

"And why did that real estate 
fellow not tell me that Blair had 
bought the farm?" 

Old Pete smiled. "Would you 
have signed the contract to build 
if you'd knowed John Blair was 
your boss?" 

So that was it! John was still 
after money. He had seen a chance 
to dabble in real estate and make 
it pay. But it needed a job done 
and there was only one man around 
to do it. Angus. Cute, old John 
was! Cute as a fox! 

Angus said, "I'll not biuld the 
place. I'll be hanged if I will." 

Pete said, "You'll be hanged 
then. You signed a contract, din't 
you? And mind, you can be sure 
that when old John arranged it, 
he didn't leave any loopholes." 

Angus said that he would have 
to go home and think awhile, but 
Pete had other ideas. "Come into 



the office where no one can hear 
us," he said. "There's something 
I want to tell you." 

They went into the office. Pete 
did the talking. "It's like this, 
Angus. I've just found out that 
John and the girl are leaving for 
California next week. Doc sug- 
gested it and I guess the old boy 
figures he can afford a month or 
two with what he'll rake in from 
this deal. Now that means he 
won't be driving up here every 
week to watch you while you're 
building . . . See what I mean?" 

Said Angus, "Right now I can't 
see anything but red." 

Pete slapped him on the back, 
old-pal fashion. "Look Angus, 
you signed to use the same ma- 
terials as in the last place, am I 
right? Then what in the world is 
to prevent you from using some 
cheaper stuff instead of putting 
in the best? My yard's full of 
'seconds' I'm trying to get rid 
of. I've got scantling and siding 
I can sell you a full $20 less a 
thousand, for instance. You're go- 
ing to cover it with asphalt 
shingles anyhow . . ." 

Angus said, "I've never cheated 
on a job yet and I don't aim to 
start now." 

Pete threw up his hands. "Of 
course it's none of my business," he 
said. "Let him play you for a 
sucker if you want. But I know if 
it was me — well now Angus, let's 
look at it this way. You've been 
double crossed. Would it be wrong 
to double cross back?" 

Saying it like that changed the 
atmosphere of it, and then when 
Pete got down to figuring and 
showed Angus how many little 
ways there could be to save . . . 
Well, first of all, Pete had that 
batch of basement block. They 
looked just like any good cement 
block, but they had been made 
with too much dead sand in the 
mix and they probably wouldn't 
stand up right. But he could save 
a third, Pete said, and who was 
going to check twice on a base- 
ment anyhow. Then he had a lot 
of homecut box elder. Looked 
exactly like pine and it might be 
years before it would start warp- 
ing. Well, months, anyhow. He 
could get that stuff for a third of 
the cost of pipe. And why couldn't 
he use poplar studding? Cost a 
lot less than that hemlock he had 
put in the other place. And he had 
wallboard he could sell for half 
too, and suppose it did buckle 
with the first damp, who was 
going to blame Angus for that? 
And how about using second hand 
{Continued on page 24) 



Macdonald Farm Journal 




The Better Impulse 

NEWS AND VIEWS OF THE 
WOMEN'S INSTITUTES OF QUEBEC 




OFFICE HAPPENINGS 

Applications are coming in well 
for the Leadership Course. 



The Executive are making plans 
for visiting the county annual 
meetings and v^e expect the coun- 
ties are busy preparing the meet- 
ings. 



This column will be short this 
month in order to leave room for 
a couple of articles that did not 
get printed last month. 



And here is a little poem from 
the same magazine: 
Monday's lunch is hard to face, 
Tuesday's lunch is fair disgrace, 
Wednesday's lunch is dull but fill- 
ing, 

Thursday's lunch is far from thrill- 

Friday's lunch is hard to find, 
Saturday's lunch is yesterday's 
rind. 

But Sunday's lunch is all complete. 
With potatoes and veg., and gravy 
and meat. 



Mrs. Partington, Nat. Convenor 
of Education, would like this year 
to emphasize Historical Research. 
This would include village histo- 
ries, museums and historical mark- 
ers honoring pioneers and old- 
timers. 



PRACTICAL LESSON 

''1 would love to be able to say 
that life's big lesson had had a mys- 
tical, or ethical, or philosophical 
value. But the humble truth is that 
food is the only subject-matter of 
the most unforgettable lesson I've 
learned from life." 
Maura Laverty, an Irish writer. 



OUR FAR AWAY SISTERS 

I never cease to be surprised 
when reading about the 'doings' of 
our Institutes in other lands. We 
shouldn't be surprised I suppose 
but it certainly proves the fact 
that women the world over are in- 
terested in the same things. 

In the last issue of Home and 
Country from Southern Rhodesia, 
South Africa, notes of monthly 
meetings mention a visit to a news- 
paper plant, clothes collected for a 
children's home, money raised for 
an 'eventide home' etc. which, by 
the way, sounds much better than 
'old folks home'. 

One that always strikes one on 
reading accounts of their meetings 
is the mention of flowers, flower 
shows, flower contests, 'banks of 
flowers' trimming the rooms, the 
platforms. 

Here are a couple of inter<jsnng 
competitions — a Tasting and 
Smelling Contest, a Garden Picture 
Hat Competition, with trimmings 
from the garden to represent the 
titles of plays, songs or films. It 
stated that there were six versions 
of 'A lonely little petunia in an 
onion patch'. 

Ond how would you like to say 
you were going to a meeting of the 
Nyamondhlovu Branch, Inyati or 
Ndola? Or Umvukwes? 




SOMETHING FOR THE 
YOUNG FOLKS 

The Quebec Junior Farmer Con- 
ference will be held again this 
year at Macdonald College the last 
week in June. 

Much more interest should be 
shown in this. It is not a club, it is 
a gathering of young Quebecers 
from 16-24, preferably from rural 
communities. 

It is sponsored jointly by the 
QWI, Farm Forums and the Ex- 
tension Service, so it is one of our 
own projects — but unfortunately 
not too well-known to WI mem- 
bers. It is definitely worth our at- 
tention. 

It is a wonderful opportunity to 
give our young people a glimpse of 
college life and to show them some 
of the many branches of study that 
can be taken at Macdonald College. 
Besides all that, they have a very 
good time. 

There is a limit of 50, but so far 
the number of girls attending has 
been disappointing. The program 
this year includes stock jud^^ing 
and talks on club work for both, 
forestry for the boys and demon- 
strations in Household Science for 
the girls, films, tours of the va- 
rious College departments and re- 
creation, including singsongs, 
swimming, sports etc. 

For further information writt 
the Extension Service, Macdonald 
College. 

Encourage the young people you 
know to come this year. 



Wearing a fantastic "Easter bonnet" 
Lucy Oberson from Romon, Switzer- 
land, walks past spectators during the 
Easter parade in London's Hyde Park. 
Undeterred by a chill wind and grey 
skies, thousands of people turned up 
to see the event. The theme of the 
revived traditional parade — sponsored 
by the London publicity committee of 
the British Travel and Holidays Asso- 
ciation — was "Fashion: Old and 
New." 



CHANGE OF DATE 

QUEBEC 
JUNIOR FARMER 
CONFERENCE 

JUNE 24-27 
Macdonald College 



19 




The enclosed picture was taken of Mrs. Alice Kolosow, a member of the Brownsburg 
Wl, Argenteuil County. This lady is interested in many handicrafts, but especially 
in braiding rugs and has made a number for people in Montreal and surrounding 

communities. 



Hail the Queen! 

By Harold Weir 

(in the Vancouver Province) 



May, 1959 




NEW KETTLE FOR MOTORISTS 

That craving for a cup of tea 
has smitten many car travellers 
vhen they are miles from anywhere 
and the thermos bottle has been 
used up — or forgotten. Now^ they 
will be able to brew a fresh cup 
of tea in the middle of the desert — 
provided they have remembered 
the water, because a London elec- 
trical firm has brought out a car 
kettle which is heated by the action 
of the car itself. Michael Jacobson 
nf the 'Daily MaiV described it in 
a recent BBC broadcast. 

"All you have to do," he said^ 
"is to plug it into a socket undei? 
the dashboard, 15 minutes or sq 
before you want to stop for your 
drink. As it boils, you just throw 
in the tea — for the kettle serves 
as teapot. Or, of course, you can 
pour the boiling water on to in- 
stant coffee, or cocoa, or bouillor. 
Libes. The aluminum kettle is vii 
tually unbreakable and has a broa( 
base, designed to prevent it wobb 
ling on the floor of the car. In 
effect, it works off the batteries, 
and it's quite simple to connect up.'* 

The car kettle has no built-in 
element, but makes use of an im- 
mersion heater which stands freely 
in the water, and can be removed 
when the kettle needs cleaning. The 
heater can be used in another re- 
ceptacle, such as a saucepan for 
warming milk for the baby. If 
plugged in while the car is moving 
k the kettle works off the dynamo 
ik and there is practically no drain on 
m the batteries, but even when the 
[i car is stationary, the drain on the 
batteries is no more than when the 
headlights are in use. 

"I foresee plenty of orders for 
them", Jacobson predicted, "parti- 
cularly from overseas countries 
where people habitually have to 
make very long car journeys." 



1 Advertising 

s 




Deadline 




• 




1 June 1st 









Miss Mary Ann Mobley of Mis- 
sissippi, having gone through cer- 
tain antics before a live crowd of 
17,000 at Atlantic City and a "TV 
audience of millions," has been 
named "Miss America" of 1958 
and thereby becomes a queen of 
something or other to be drooled 
over and adulated after the fash- 
ion of rock-bound republicans. 

Miss Mobley was a choir singer 
and was pursuing training for a 
teaching career. She'll chuck the 
works. With the possibility of be- 
coming anything her little heart 
and mind desire, she'll become a 
Broadway musical comedy star, 
although she's seen only two shows 
in her life. This comedy ambition 
should be a cinch since Miss Mo- 
bley is already very funny. 

It's funny, for instance, that 
Miss Mobley should choose the 
stage when fortune upends a cor- 
nucopia before her. It illustrates, 
of course, the inevitable truth of 
the solemn maxim that there's no 
business like show business and 
that, for Americans at least, the 
most moving music on earth is the 
sound of many palms being beat- 
en together. 



According to the press agents 
who went into a tizzy the moment 
the judges' fingers pointed. Miss 
Mobley has a marvellous back- 
ground for greatness. We are in- 
formed that she used to wear long^ 
pigtails and braces on her teeth. 
For purposes of celebrity, this is 
almost as good as being born in 
a log cabin. 

And when we are further told 
that Miss Mobley never had a 
date until she was 16, instead of 
tearing around with the boys 
when she was two or three, it be- 
comes apparent at once that Miss 
Mobley is a sweet, red-blooded 
American girl to whom nobody can 
deny anything and who can look 
forward to a thrilling career as a 
Mom when she gets tired of public 
applause, if ever. 

Meanwhile, the pickings are 
pretty good as Miss America. She 
gets a $10,000 scholarship — for 
the stage of course. She gets a 
motor car, a television set, furs 
and a comprehensive new ward- 
robe. Her income over the next 
year should be between $50,000 
and $75,000. She'll make public 
appearances and speeches both 



20 

on this continent and in Europe. 
But her biggest source of income 
will derive from endorsing prod- 
ucts, 90 per cent of which she's 
probably never heard about. But 
that won't stop her. Beauty queens 
are psychic. They don't need to 
taste a cereal to know that it's 
the best ever. 

It's probably unfortunate that 
we got switched into this business 
of ^'celebrities" endorsing com- 
mercial products because, with 
some few exceptions, this column 
regards the celebrity endorsement 
of products as a form of prostitu- 
tion. 

Mrs. Richwich endorsing (for 
a fee) something she wouldn't 
carry out on two chips; Mr. Rich- 
wich endorsing a drink that he 
wouldn't be found dead with; Miss 
America endorsing everything, all 
are features of the American way 
of life that causes this column's 
stomach to turn over and over. 

It's unfortunate, then, that the 
new Miss America's most valuable 
pecuniary reward will come from 
making an unconscionable little 
liar of herself. 

It's unfortunate that America's 
highest award for beauty and 
charm must entail the destruction 
of character, that a presumably 
nice little choir girl in pigtails and 
braced teeth must be transformed 
into a show-off, a publicity man- 
iac and a conscienceless prevari- 
cator of the Madison Avenue type. 

Our congratulations to Miss 
Danica d'Hondt of Vancouver for 
losing. 

It takes no high-powered scien- 
tists to explain — or figure out 
— the philosophy expressed by a 
hard-working Negro woman who 
was asked why she put up with 
her likable, but completely lazy, 
husband : ''Well, I makes de living 
and he makes de living worth 
while." 

* * 4f 

A woman walked into the office 
of a cemetery. 

"I can't find my husband's grave 
and he's buried here," she cried in 
exasperation. 

"What is the name of your hus- 
band?" the manager asked. 

"Thomas Jackson," the \7oman 
said. 

Referring to his card index, the 
manager said : 

'Madame, we have no Thomas 
Jackson. We have an Elizabeth 
Jackson." 

"That's him," she cried. "Every- 
thing's in my name." 



J 



NALD Farm Journal 



Marriage Partnership 

A timely and frank discussion of the legal status of woman 

in Quebec. 
By Mary L. Watson 



RECOGNITION of the mar- 
riage partnership in our tax 
laws has been worked for unceas- 
ingly by the Canadian Committee 
on the Status of Women, whose 
resolutions have been adopted by 
the National Council of Women, 
the National Federation of Wom- 
en's Institutes and the Montreal 
Council of Women. The Commit- 
tee have cited the community of 
property laws of this Province as 
an example of recognition of the 
marriage partnership for taxation 
purposes. 

We know, of course, that not all 
women in Quebec are under com- 
munity of property laws, which 
permits the husband to live as 
owner but die a partner. Thus his 
widow is entitled to one-half of 
the community estate, and the 
husband cannot will away from 
his wife her half of the estate. 
The Federal Government accepts 
the Quebec widow's right to one- 
half of the estate, and applies to 
the so-called present $60,000 ex- 
emption against only the other 
half of the estate. As a result, the 
Quebec widow in community of 
property pays federal succession 
duty ONLY if the estate exceeds 
$120,000 although such estates in 
the rest of Canada would become 
taxable when they exceed the 
$60,000. Is this fair to widows in 
the rest of Canada, or to those in 
our province not under commun- 
ity of property? 

Of course during her marriage 
the woman under community of 
property was deprived by law of 
most of her contractual and prop- 
rietary rights. She was held to 
have ceded them to her husband 
as head of the family and he ex- 
ercised them on her behalf for 
the duration of the marriage. This 
concept of marriage stems from 
the old ideas embodied in the 
puissance maritale, a legal con- 
ception dating back to the Middle 
Ages. 

There remain two groups of 
married women in our Province 
not under community of property 
and toward whom the above fav- 
ourable taxes represent a great 
discrimination, as indeed they do 
to women all over Canada. 

These women are those separ- 
ate as to property, whether by 
Marriage Contract, or by virtue 
of not being domiciled in Quebec 
at the time of their marriage. 



Theoretically it would seem that 
a Marriage Contract might be 
equally favourable for taxation 
purposes, but one has but to think 
back twenty or thirty years to the 
salaries, cost of houses and fur- 
nishings then prevailing to realize 
that not many young men could 
have foreseen the inflationary ten- 
dencies and made adequate provi- 
sion to cover them. And remem- 
ber, he cannot rectify his mistake, 
since the Marriage Contract must 
be signed BEFORE the solemni- 
zation of the marriage and cannot 
afterwards be revoked or altered. 
Also, if the husband has not at 
the time of his death carried out 
the contract, while the gift to the 
wife has first claim against his 
estate, she must pay succession 
duties on it. 

The situation is still more fav- 
ourable for those couples who were 
domiciled elsewhere at the time of 
their wedding. The wife separate 
as to property has none of the 
benefits and protections of the 
Marriage Contract. 

We in the Quebec Women's In- 
stitutes have sought to remedy 
this by a Resolution passed at the 
semi-annual Board meeting, Jan- 
uary 20-21st, 1956, and sent to the 
Commission for Study of the Que- 
bec Civil Code. Under item 5 we 
requested : 

''That provision be made for 
the many couples married in 
common law provinces or 
countries and now domiciled 
in the Province of Quebec 
and unprotected by the laws 
of our marital regimes, to 
make a valid Marriage Con- 
tract within one year of set- 
tlement in this province, (or 
ivithin one year of the pas- 
sage of this amendment)" 
The above resolution drawn up 
by the legislative Committee of 
the Montreal Council of Women 
and presented separately to the 
Commission by all federated soci- 
eties has so far not been granted. 

Further discrimination against 
married women not under com- 
munity of property, and therefore 
against married women in other 
provinces as well, is the new Pro- 
vincial Income Tax Law, which 
would allow husbands of married 
women under community of prop- 
erty a much greater exemption. 

Perhaps, like myself, you have 
been thinking we were the only 



V 



May, 1959 

women in North America living 
jf under feudal laws, but many states 
in the United States have com- 
munity property systems of mari- 
tal ownership borrowed from the 
civil law, not only of France, but 
of Spain. Unlike Canadians, how- 
ever, Americans in other states 
protested vigorously against this 
discrimination in income tax and 
succession duties, for in the Unit- 
ed States as here in Canada any 
exemption on the state (or pro- 
vincial) level is reflected on the 
Federal. Taxes on the lower level 
are credited in whole or part on 
the higher level. 

Just here I would remind you 
that Quebec and Ontario are the 
only two provinces having provin- 
cial succession duties, and al- 
though credit is given at the fed- 
eral level for taxes paid on the 
provincial, yet one Ontario widow 
told me the exemptions on both 
levels are not always the same. To 
the widow in both these provinces 
there is thus an added burden, not 
only in the possible extra taxes, 
but in the exasperating delay and 
expense occasioned by two gov- 
ernments processing the estate be- 
fore she receives her widow's 
mite. 

As a result of the Americans' 
protest against discrimination, 
the Revenue Act of 1948 extended 
nationwide the income-splitting 
privilege to married couples. Since 
then spouses in ALL states have 
been able to obtain the income tax 
benefits of splitting their income 
and thus reducing the applicable 
income tax, whether the married 
partner makes her contribution in 
the home or outside. Also, one-half 
of the family estate may pass to 
the surviving partner free of suc- 
cession duties. So, as a result of 
modernizing the old Spanish 
and French civil codes and mak- 
ing them applicable all over the 
country, an American wife is 
looked upon as a marriage partner 
by the Government of the United 
States. 

Why are we Canadians too apa- 
thetic or too non-realistic to do 
likewise? Perhaps you do not wish 
to imitate another country? But 
many ideas of federation have 
been adopted from those federated 
lOj^ states to the south of us. It would 
^ seem sensible to follow the steps 
taken to iron out the irregular- 
ities in the union of states or 
provinces with different laws. 
Perhaps you do not let yourself 
contemplate widowhood ? Unf or- 
0' tunately statistics are very cold- 
ly hearted. 

{Continued on page 22) 



21 




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Soap Making 
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22 



Macdonald Farm Journal 



And, should that grim day ar- 
rive for you, are you to have add- 
ed to your grief the indignity of 
not being considered your hus- 
band's partner? Perhaps as a farm 
woman, you vv^orked side by side 
v^ith him in the fields, saving and 
making-do so that necessary equip- 
ment could be bought for the 
farm. Are your savings gained 
from self-sacrifice, and going 
without, to be taxed? Annuities 
or pensions to be taxed twice, first 
when capitalized on the basis of 
your life expectancy as part of the 
estate, and then again in your 
yearly income tax? Perhaps you 
had been thinking that your estate 
was so small that all this couldn't 
possibly apply to you? But bear 
in mind that even a small annuity 
capitalized adds quite a sum to 
the estate for taxation purposes, 
even though you never can touch 
the capital. 

Property values have increased 
tremendously and last, but by no 
means least, our provincial suc- 
'Cession duties start at $10,000. 

We should therefore, work in- 
defatigably for recognition of wom- 
en as true marriage partners 
through both the provincial and 
federal members. Let us strip off 
the gargoyles from our medieval 
laws and streamline them without 
feudal trappings for today. 




Members of the East Angus W.I. shown at one of their recent handicrafts classes. 
Left to right. Miss E. McLellan, Mrs. S. Bishop, Mrs. R. Gray, Mrs. V. Bernard, 
Mrs. R. Hayes, Mrs. R. Knapp. Standing is Miss Runnells, the instructor. 



CAVAGNAL BRANCH OF 
COMO, HUDSON, HUDSON 
HEIGHTS AND CHOISY 

Mrs. Ethel G. Wheeler, Conven- 
or of Agriculture, resigned her 
post after 25 years of faithful 
service, at the March annual meet- 
ing. She managed the School Fair 
continuously for over 25 years for 



Cavagnal WI branch. She also 
held the post of County Convenor 
of Agriculture, Harwood and Ca- 
vagnal Branch in 1956-57 and held 
the post for 2 years. 

Mrs. Wheeler obtained her Life 
Membership Certificate and badge 
in 1951. It was presented to her 
by Mrs. E. Riddell, Como, who was 
President at that time. 



RARE CATTLE 

LONDON — (CP) — Two 
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type of white cattle of Britain — 
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by Col. Harry Cator of Norwich. 
In return he gets a pair of African 
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23 



ONE DAY'S POISON 

SOME informative and rather 
startling facts were brought 
to light by Dr. E. S. Hillman when 
she was the speaker at a recent 
meeting of the Montreal Council 
of Women. Dr. Hillman, a young 
mother of two small children, is 
with the Outpatient Department 
of the Montreal Children's Hos- 
pital and she is also head of the 
Poison Control Centre at the Hos- 
pital. 

There are 38 poison control cen- 
tres in Canada, two in Montreal, 
one at the Montreal Children's 
Hospital, the other at St. Justine's 
Hospital. 

Their special purpose: 

1. To supply a 24 hour emergency 
service. 

2. To give information to parents, 
doctors and hospitals. 

To phone the manufacturers to 
find out what was in the prod- 
uct (if not labelled properly) 
that has poisoned the patient. 
Also to keep abreast of new 
products. 

4. To see that there is proper la- 
belling as to contents, with an- 
tidotes given on labels. 

0. To find out circumstances in 
which the poison was taken. 



The case is reported to the Pu- 
blic Health Department and a 
nurse goes as a follow up, to 
see how the patient is and also 
to caution the parents and show 
them how to prevent further 
accidents. 

6. To see that cases are reported 
to the National Food Direc- 
torate in Ottawa. The Direc- 
torate also supplies informa- 
tion to the Control Centres. 
Dr. Hillman showed a film *One 

Day's Poison' showing a typical 

day at the hospital. 

Dr. Hillman said between 60 
and 80 children a month are ad- 
mitted to the Montreal Children's 
Hospital who have ingested poi- 
son accidentally. She had 13 calls 
in one week to attend children who 
had been poisoned by too much 
laxative. The dangerous age is 
from one to four years old and 
particularly the 18 months to 2 
years group, just when they are 
crawling around and learning to 
reach and climb. 

Poisoning causes more deaths 
for children up to 6 years than 
all the contagious diseases com- 
bined. About half these deaths 
are caused by an overdose of drugs 
and the rest from drinking or eat- 



ing cleaners, polishes, etc. 

Dr. Hillman stressed that all 
such things should be out of reach 
of small children. That all bottles 
that have lost their labels should 
be thrown away, also old medi- 
cines, and that leftover fluids 
should never be put into soft 
drink bottles, or other such con- 
tainers. 

Also, Dr. Hillman said she wish- 
ed we could go back to the time 
when medicine tasted like med- 
icine and was not flavored to hide 
the bad taste. About 80 per cent of 
aspirin poisoning is from the pink 
coated type that is made for chil- 
d r e n . A short time ago a 3 
year old died from eating chocolate 
covered quinine tablets. The 2 
year old sister licked off the choc- 
olate and threw the tablets under 
the bed and this undoubtedly sav- 
ed her life, as it was found that 
there had been enough of the tab- 
lets to have killed three people. 

Now spring cleaning time is 
here, it would be a good time to 
clean out the medicine cabinet — 
and put anything that might be 
harmful out of reach of small fin- 
gers. 

(NOTE: The film One Day's 
Poison may he obtained from the 
Film Library here.) 




When Carol Sissons, 13 yeor old, 2t\d Class Guide with 
frhe 148t-h Company, Toronto, saw her old Guernsey 
friend "Henrietta" at the Royal Winter Fair, she took 
advantage of milking time to get some practice. Fraser- 
dale Rex's Henrietta, owned by Mr. Jack Fraser, Fraser- 
<iQle Farm, was Grand Champion Female at this year's 
Royal. Carol, who used to live at Fraserdale Farm, 
thinks she is very lucky to be trying for her Dairymaid 
Badge with a Grand Champion. 




That's no piggy bonk on the lap of bed-ridden Gary 
Carr, 10, but a week-old runt named "Sleepy." A kid- 
ney ailment didn't keep Gary from adopting "Sleepy," 
runt of a brood belonging to his parents, Mr. and Mrs. 
Charles Carr, as a 4H project. Gary, who has to slip 
"Sleepy" the bottle quite frequently, says "he eots just 
like a pig." 



24 



Macdonald Farm Journal 



THE DEVIL ON HIS 
SHOULDER . . . 

(Continued from page 21) 
plumbing? who was going to rip 
up a sewage pipe to see whether it 
was new or not . . . 

And while Angus stood there, 
the devil came and sat on his 
shoulder and put his arm around 
his neck. Now the devil knows 
the two best ways to tempt a Scot. 
One is through his spirit of 
revenge. Revenge has been the 
theme of the Scot's literature, the 
spirit of his poetry and the battle 
cry of his regiments all through 
the centuries. "The old man's got 
it coming to him," the devil said. 

The other best way to tempt a 
Scot is through his pocketbook. 
Angus picked up the sheet where 
Pete had figured. *'You could save 
at least $400," the devil whispered 
in his ear, ''and the house would 
look exactly the same as the one 
you built before." 

"Fll take till morning to think 
it over," Angus told Pete. 

And because his heart was in 
the torment of temptation and 
writhing in the quest of decision, 
Angus took up his pipes that 
night. He began his march when 
the sun was below the goldenrod, 
level with the shadows. He was 
piping when the last red in the 
west had burned black and the 
moon had warmed from chilly 
white to a gold that winked in the 
dew. And he couldn't decide. 

It was ten when Jean came 
down the road. Angus was sur- 
prised. He hadn't known that she 
was back this way. She stood off 
a step and Angus remained as 
hard and motionless as the rock 
on which he sat. 

**We came home tonight and I 
heard you playing," she said. 

''You came home to see me, no 
doubt?" Angus said, trying to 
make it sound sarcastic. 

"Father had to come back to 
finish up a little business before 
we go to California. He's down- 
town now." 

An acid remark as to what the 
business might be, burned the tip 
of his tongue, but Angus held it. 
Why let her know that he knew? 

She came over and put her arms 
about his neck, and Angus hung 
tight to his pipes for fear that he 
might reciprocate? She kissed his 
cheek. "You think I'm fickle be- 
cause I must stay with my father 
a little longer. And you think 
father is a Shylock. But you're 
wrong, Angus, and someday you 
may know it." 

He said, "You better go home 
now before your father gets back 



and finds you here. As long as you 
put your father ahead of me, 
Jeannie, it's no go with us." 

She began to cry then and she 
still hung on. "I want both of you, 
Angus. You're both good men." 

"I think you'd better go home," 
he told her. 

She backed away then. "All 
right then, I'll be going. But 
Angus, I want you always to be 
doing the right thing when I'm 
gone. Even if you're no longer lov- 
ing me. I want Father to see that 
you're his kind of man. Would you 
be promising before I go, Angus?" 

Angus looked at her for a long 
minute, wondering at the fervor 
of her words. "Were you afraid 
I'd take to drink or something 
because of this?" he asked. 

And she left him, crying softly 
as she disappeared in the moonlit 
shadows down the road. 

A few minutes later. Father 
MacDonald pedalled up on his 
bicycle. "Just getting back from a 
call up Damascus way," he ex- 
plained, "and I couldn't help but 
hear the pipes. It sort of does 
something to a Scot, you know, 
coming up out of a night like this. 
Would you mind playing me 'Road 
to the Isles' Angus? Then I'll 
promise you I'll be off." 

Angus played it. 

The priest, true to his promise, 



threw his leg over the bicycle and 
pointed the headlamp homeward. 
He seemed a very busy man for a 
pastor, Angus thought. "I surely 
thank you," he said. "Man but I 
love to hear a Scot play pipes. 
Back in Edinburgh my father used 
to say that it was always a man 
of integrity who played the pipes. 
A bad man couldn't." 

Angus thought, he doesn't know 
how near I am to proving his 
father wrong. Aloud he said, "Now 
that I find interesting, Father. 
Had your father reasons, no 
doubt?" 

"Oh something about the song 
of the pipes being the music of 
the soul, you know, and if the soul 
be sick, how can there be such 
music . . . Just a whimsy, I'll grant 
you, but I'll always think of my 
father saying that when I hear 
the skirling of the drones. Good 
night, Angus." 

Long after the priest had 
wheeled off down the road, Angus 
stewed in thought, his pipes 
dangling lifeless at his side. 
Father MacDonald hadn't given 
him a sermon, but just coming 
up to a fellow all of a sudden like 
that did something to you. So 
what was a man who played the 
pipes? A man with a soul. Well, 
suppose it was just an old Scot's 
whimsy, it was still a wholesome 




PICTURE 
OF A 
MAN 
WHO 
GETS A 
KICK 
OUT OF 
LIFE... 



Family handyman, carpenter, 
plumber and electrician, this is the 
family breadwinner. 

He wants his family to have the 
best things in life now, and he 
wants his wife to enjoy life 
no matter what happens to him. 
That's why he owns a Sun Life 
poHcy which guarantees her a 
lifetime income if he dies 
before she does. 

This is a policy you should know 
about too. Ask a Sun Life man 
to tell you about it. 




iin Life of Canada 

•I EVERYWHERE IN CANADA 



May, 1959 



25 



whimsy. And up till this moment 
Angus had done a pretty fair job 
of being that sort of man. Why 
change? 

Angus thought over the items 
on old Pete's sheet again, but this 
time the devil had been scared 
away from his shoulder. Angus 
wondered now what on earth could 
ever have made him consider such 
a proposition. And when he began 
thinking of Jean, the way she had 
pleaded with him, her arms about 
his neck and her tears, all of the 
spite and hardness went out of 
him. He jumped to his feet, swung 
his pipes over his shoulder in one 
mighty sweep and broke into the 
rousing strains of "Campbells Are 
Coming". Then he went to bed. 

In the morning he placed his 
order with old Pete. know the 
old buzzard doesn't deserve it, 
and he won't give me credit for 
being honest when I could have 
fleeced him, but I'm going to build 
that house just like I said I would," 
he said. 

So Angus built it. All that au- 
tumn he planned and planed and 
pounded. Just as Pete had pro- 
phesied, John Blair never came 
near to inspect the building and 
sometimes when the day had been 
unduly hard and Pete's laugh had 
a hint to it, Angus almost wished 
he had listened to the voice on 
his shoulder that day. But those 
were passing fancies only. At home 
after the sweat of the long day, 
and when he was alone with his 
pipes, he was glad. 

The pipes were more than an 
instrument to Angus. They were a 
means of expressing a mood, and 
if that mood were unpleasant, they 
could be a means of blowing it 
away. So Angus played that fall, 
with the same spirit he had al- 
ways put into them. He played best 
perhaps, when Jean wrote him. 
He still told himself of course that 
the affair was all over, but he 
couldn't quite tell this to his bag- 
pipes. 

Little by little the house took 
shape, and finally when the gray 
grass had flints of snow huddled 
about its roots, the house was 
done. 

It was late when the helpers 
had drawn their last pay and were 
gone home. But Angus lingered. 
He didn't know it but he was in 
love with the place. He went down 
cellar and with his hammer he 
struck one of the basement blocks. 
It rang with strength. Solid. Last 
a lifetime. He looked above him 
and hammered a chip off a joist. 
He put the clean sliver in his 
mouth and it tasted good. Hem- 



lock. Straight as a die and it 
would be just as straight fifty 
years from now. He went upstairs. 
He lifted a window and smiled 
at the easy way it hefted. Flaw- 
less white pine. No sapwood to 
bind a couple of months from now. 
He went to the top floor. 

And when he did, he heard a 
car drive up the laneway. He 
looked out the bedroom window. 
It was the real estate man again. 
He bounced up the walk and 
pounded on the screen door. Angus 
went downstairs, gathering wrath 
as he went. 

But at the door, the man from 
the city talked faster than Angus. 
You've got the house all done? 



Good. I have my client out in the 
car. I'd like to bring him in. 
You've met him perhaps? Mr. 
John Blair." 

"I know him," Angus said suck- 
ing in his stomach. No use ex- 
ploding till he got his money any- 
how. 

**Mr. Blair will want to see the 
place first and then we can finish 
our business. O.K.?" 

So old John hobbled in, his 
brows pinched together, his lips 
tight as a vise and his precious 
old legal papers gripped in his 
gnarly hands. Angus thought, he's 
so tight you couldn^t squeeze a 
flaxseed between his teeth with 
{Continued on page 29) 



5 GOOD REASONS 



WHY ELECTRIC 
REFRIGERATION 
ON YOUR FARM 
MEANS BIGGER 
PROFITS FOR YOU 



1. REDUCES FOOD 
SPOILAGE by pro- 
viding a constant stor- 
age temperature for 
fresh marketable pro- 
duce at all times. 

2. PRESERVES FOOD QUALITY by 

hampering the growth of harm- 
ful bacteria. 

3. PRESERVES VITAMIN CONTENT of your 
produce by eliminating injurious effect 
of temperature changes 

4. PRESERVES FOOD FLAVOR 

as well as the freshness, 
color and texture of yoi 
produce — all its best sell- 
ing features. 

5. IS ECONOMICAL because it 
lets you sell produce all year 
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ice. 

For free technical advice concerning electric re- 
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Macdonald Farm Journal 

The Month With The W. I. 



ARGENTEUIL: 

ARUNDEL planned for Bazaar and School Fair. 
DALESVILLE had a demonstration on ''Short Cuts 
of Home-Making; also had demonstrations on a Lunch- 
eon, and An Easter Dinner. FRONTIER decided to 
give two prizes at Fair — one for most exhibits and 
one for most prizes. JERUSALEM-BETHANY dis- 
cussed fair work. LACHUTE heard report on the GIL 
Fashion Show which was very successful; voted a 
donation in support of proposed Home for the Aged. 
LAKEFIELD made plans for Bazaar. Their project 
for the year is helping to pay for a crippled lady be- 
ing kept in a comfortable home. MILLE ISLES re- 
newed their membership in the C.A.C. MORIN 
HEIGHTS sponsored a handicraft exhibit for the girls 
of the Morin Heights Intermediate School; are col- 
lecting for the Red Cross Drive. PIONEER brought 
clothing for the Unitarian Service Committee. UPPER 
LACHUTE-EAST END completed a quilt for the Red 
Gross. 

BONAVENTURE: 

BLACK CAPE asked members to bring and buy at the 
next meeting to increase the sick fund. GRAND CAS- 
CAPEDIA heard many reports; made several dona- 
tions. MATAPEDIA decided to write a branch his- 
tory; had a display of many fancy articles of handi- 
work that will be on sale at the Garden Festival. PORT 
DANIEL presented a gift to a member who had per- 
fect attendance for the past two years. RESTI- 
GOUCHE sent chocolates to a sick friend; planned a 
home cooking sale. 

BROME: 

ABERCORN sent three crib blankets to Cecil Mem- 
orial Home; received a parcel from Esmond Mills; 
received two new members. AUSTIN prseented an an- 
niversary gift to member; received remnants from T. 
Eaton Co., Can.-Celanese; Esmond Mills and a bath 
mat set from Henry Morgan's; distributed garden 
seeds to children. KNOWLTON'S LANDING bought 
a gift for a member; brought in articles for summer 
sale; appointed delegates for County and Provincial 
Conventions. SUTTON tied five large quilts and two 
crib quilts for Red Cross. 

COMPTON: 

BROOKBURY donated $5.00 to Bishopton In- 
termediate School for hot lunches; bought an electric 
coffee maker. BURY heard articles on Change in Farm 
Policy and Powdered Skim Milk and the New Postage 
Stamp Commemorating ACWW ; sent $43.00 to Service 
Fund; renewed 10 subscriptions to Federated News; 
subscribed to C.A.C. Bulletin; took out membership 
in U.N. for Branch Citizenship Convenor; made 200 
bedpads for Cancer Society in March; realized $26.35 
from sale of quilt. Two articles of wearing apparel 
over 100 years old were on display, a shawl and a 
widow^s mourning veil. COOKSHIRE saw films on 
"Migration From Acadia to Louisiana", "Quebec 
Furs", "Laurentian Vacation Spot", "A u s a b 1 e 
Chasm", and "The Winter Carnival in Quebec"; dis- 
tributed leaflet on flowers to members. EAST ANGUS 



realized $28.50 from paper drive; held rug course with 
Miss Runnells as Instructor. EAST CLIFTON re- 
ceived pamphlets from Department of Agriculture in 
Toronto with hints on buying eggs, easy fish cas- 
serole receipts, etc. SAWYERSVILLE entertained 
County President and County Secretary as well as 
members from Scotstown and East Angus Branches; 
brought in articles for Save the Children Fund. 
SCOTSTOWN voted $10.00 to Red Cross; made 30 
Cancer pads. 

GATINEAU: 

AYLMER EAST heard reports from all convenors. 
EARDLEY held their Annual Meeting. KAZABA- 
ZUA also held annual meeting. LOWER EARDLEY 
exchanged seeds as their roll call; saw films on "Eng- 
land and Scotland" and ''A Canoe Trip" ; presented a 
gift to former secretary. RUPERT heard talk on 
Gatineau Co-op Medical; voted $10.00 to Red Cross. 
Roll call: ''Easter Hat Parade" made of kitchen uten- 
sils. WAKEFIELD heard talk on Dental Hygiene by 
Dr. Leduc; a letter of thanks was read from Uni- 
tarian Service Committee, for donation of clothing. 

HUNTINGDON: 

DEWITTVILLE heard talk by editor of Family Her- 
ald and Macdonald Farm Journal. DUNDEE had dem- 
onstration on piecing a quilt; remodelled old hats. 
FRANKLIN heard talk on treatment and care of 
plants. HEMMINGFORD had demonstration of shells 
from East African coast; had White Elephant sale. 
HOWICK heard report on public speaking contest; 
saw demonstration on making slip covers. HUNTING- 
DON brought potholders for sale; heard talk on: 
Facts, Fingers, Fun, by two ladies who attended. RI- 
VERFIELD received garden seeds, had quiz on agri- 
culture; heard talk on planting and treating bulbs 
and plants. 

JACQUES CARTIER: 

STE. ANNE DE BELLEVUE received, for future 
sale, a pair of hand-knitted stocks; had short course 
on rug making. 

MEGANTIC: 

INVERNESS purchased first aid manuals; read 
thank-you letters; sent get well cards to the sick. 

PAPINEAU: 

LOCHABER heard reports on Christmas parcels which 
were given to 32 old people in the hospital; remem- 
bered shut-ins and cards were sent to former mem- 
bers ; sent to scrap books to Korea ; donated to Spring- 
hill Disaster Fund and Care. 

PONTIAC: 

BEECH GROVE brought in quilt blocks; discussed 
exhibits for fall fairs. BRISTOL has done some re- 
pair work to Community Hall; discussed plans for 
card party. CLARENDON donated $50.00 to Pontiac 
Community Hospital Auxiliary to buy surgical instru- 
ments; $10.00 to Rosemere Home. $10.00 to Brook- 



May, 1959 



27 



dale Home, $10.00 to Maple Grove Cemetery, $10.00 
to Shawville Village Cemetery, 75 saucers to Shaw- 
ville High School Cafeteria. They also donated money 
to buy cakes for dance in aid of Pontiac Community 
Hospital; heard paper on the propagation of the Sel- 
kirk rust-proof wheat. ELMSIDE donated articles to 
complete three layettes for Unitarian Relief; shipped 
several pounds of used clothing for relief in other 
countries. FORT COULONGE heard papers on agri- 
culture and 'The Faithful Few"; donated money to 
Red Cross. Quyon heard reports from all convenors. 
SHAWVILLE heard articles on ACWW stamp and 
"Eggs"; presented prizes for Bridge Marathon; sug- 
gested that County Convention discuss necessity of 
obtaining a father's consent for a surgical operation. 
WYMAN heard reports from all convenors. 

QUEBEC: 

VALCARTIER sent Easter gifts to shut-ins; several 
thank-you cards and letters read; had questions and 
answers on W.L Handbook; collected for Red Cross. 

RICHMOND: 

CLEVELAND had a contest on rolls. GORE had dis- 
cussions on ''Methods of Raising Money" and ''Duties 
of Convenors" ; gifts given to two new mothers ; made 
presentation to two members for perfect attendance; 
purchased a wedding gift; gave prizes for Richmond 
County Exhibition. RICHMOND HILL presented gifts 
to 8 members for perfect attendance; donated $5.00 
for children's department in Agricultural Fair; sent 
sunshine baskets to people who were ill. RICHMOND 
Y.W.L had a sale of remnants and an auction of home 
made candy. SHIPTON catered for a Golden Wedding 
Anniversary and realized $41.00 from same; .iold ap- 
rons, holders and doilies for $11.55; gave gifts to 
past-president and secretary and to two members go- 
ing to Great Britain; drawing on tea cloth brought 
$14.50; are co-sponsoring Cancer Drive; are sending 
the book "The King Tree" to New Zealand as a gift 
with exchange of programmes. SPOONER POND 
sold quilt with proceeds of $52.85; heard paper on 
trading stamps and items from CAC bulletin; had 
quiz on Do's and Don't's. 

ROUVILLE: 

ABBOTSFORD had 19 members present; presented 
gift to past secretary and a life-membership to past 



president; had three contests with small prizes given. 
Roll call was answered by giving member country 
of U.N. 

SHERBROOKE: 

ASCOT entertained several guests at their meeting 
at which a dinner was served; made a presentation 
to Mrs. Pearson for assembling quilt blocks; held a 
Chinese Auction. BELVIDERE heard articles on Care 
of Linoleum and Canada's Growth and Population; 
helped at Cancer Dressing Station. BROMPTON 
ROAD held a Food Sale; heard some hints on Hot 
Beds and Cold Frames and an article on "Queen's 
Forthcoming Visit to Canada". LENNOXVILLE for- 
warded 10 subscriptions to Federated News; helped 
at Cancer Dressing Station; sponsored French Con- 
versation Classes and issued certificates to those who 
took full course; heard an article from C.A.C. paper 
re sizes of children's shoes and labels for all clothing. 
MILBY held a doughnut contest; had a demonstration 
on making Easter table decorations; drew up a Resolu- 
tion asking that Legislation be enforced regarding 
the Dumping of Garbage in rivers, in fields and on 
roadsides. 

STANSTEAD: 

AYER'S CLIFF discussed attending the Prov. Con- 
vention and sending exhibits to handicraft display; 
planned a paper drive and decided that secretary's 
records shoudl be put in safe keeping. BEEBE heard 
reports from all convenors. HATLEY discussed Holi- 
day House; heard report on executive meeting. HAT- 
LEY CENTRE donated prizes in grades 1 to 6 inclu- 
sive in local school; donated their share to the books 
of knowledge in school; planned trip to B. F. Good- 
rich rubber plant in nearby town. MINTON had sale 
of remnants; made plans to entertain annual county 
meeting. STANSTEAD NORTH heard papers by two 
convenors; gave $25.00 towards their local school's 
Grade IX trip to Boston; renewed C.A.C. member- 
ship; received as a gift an engraved plaque for Cath- 
erine Mackenzie Memorial picnic table. TOMIFOBIA 
discussed Holiday House. WAY'S MILLS heard a re- 
port by a member on her visit to Health Unit; wel- 
comed a new member ; entered quilt blocks in Tweeds- 
muir contest and assembled quilt for Dixville Home 
for Retarded Boys. 



20th ANNUAL Wl PUBLIC 
SPEAKING CONTEST 

THE 20th annual Public Speak- 
ing Contet sponsored by Cha- 
teauguay-Huntingdon C o u n t i e s' 
Women's Institutes was held in the 
Hemmingford High School, Friday 
evening, March 20th. 

Contestants from Franklin Cen- 
tre, Howick, Huntingdon, Orms- 
town and Hemmingford High 
Schools took part. All these con- 
list' testants were winners of contests 
0 held in their local schools prior to 
ilaii the final competition. 
J Chairman for the evening was 
Ji^ Mrs. Harold Palmer, County WI 
5 It President. Mrs. Palmer expressed 



the feeling of all WI members. The 
WI has always been concerned with 
the general education of children, 
and, by sponsoring the public 
speaking contest, pupils are given 
the opportunity of learning the 
basic elements of speaking in pub- 
lic — to learn to articulate and to 
express an idea and opinion before 
an audience. 

Mrs. Harold Robertson, County 
Convenor of Education, then called 
on the nineteen contestants, one at 
a time, to the platform to present 
their speeches. All were interest- 
ing and well presented. 

Mr. Brash, Supervisor of Eng- 
lish, Province of Quebec, was ad- 
judicator. Prior to announcing the 



winners, Mr. Brash gave a few 
words of congratulation, advice and 
encouragement to the participating 
students. One of the main things 
in public speaking is to get in tune 
with your audience. Other import- 
ant factors are originality of topic 
and clarity of speech. 

Certificates and prizes were 
awarded winners by Mrs. Ward 
Rember, Past County President 
and Prov. Convenor of Education. 

Mrs. Janet Reddick, 1st County 
Vice-President thanked the various 
people and convenors who helped 
make the event a success. 

The following are contestants* 
pictures in their respective groups. 



28 



Macdonald Farm Journal 



RECIPE PAGE 



Macdonald Favorites 



ONE of the best ways to build 
an interesting recipe collec- 
tion — or expand one — is by 
exchanging time-tested favorites. 
This is a grand custom. But we 
tend to swap mainly with, those 
we talk on the phone, or visit with 
across the back fence every day. 
Mrs. Jones discovers something 
deliciously different, and soon it 
has become popular with many of 
her friends and neighbours. But 
Mrs. Jones is justified if she 



doesn^t want her delectable dis- 
covery served by every hostess in 
the community, until the fad has 
worn off. How many times have 
you known this to happen? 

A solution to the problem? — 
Keep a few recipes a secret, at 
least for a little while, and get 
new ideas from farther afield. For 
a few of these ideas, the following 
home-tested recipes have been sent 
in by readers in Luskville and 
Beech Grove. 



Tuna Fish Dish 

1 lb spaghetti 

2 small tins tuna fish 

1 tin cream of tomato soup 

1 jar cheese spread 
V2 cup chopped onion 

Cook spaghetti in boiling water 
withV2 tsp salt. Add to boiled 
spaghetti: soup, tuna fish, cheese 
and onion. Pour into greased cas- 
serole dish. Top with 10 crushed 
crackers. Bake in 350 degree oven, 
approx. 1 hours. 

Mrs. Jessie Faris 

Dote Cake 

% lb pitted dates. Cut dates. Add 
2 tsp and 1 cup hot water. Let 
stand while mixing the fol- 
lowing : 

% cup shrtening or butter 

1 cup white sugar 

2 eggs well beaten 

1 cup chopped walnuts 
1 teaspoon vanilla 
1% cups sifted flour 

1 tsp baking powder 
pinch salt 

Cream shortening and sugar. 
Add eggs, walnuts, vanilla, then 
date mixture. Mix well. Add flour 
and baking powder and salt, sifted 
together. Bake at 350 to 375 
degrees for 30 minutes. 
(Note: this batteh is quite thin) 

Ida Olm 

Apple Roll 

Sift together : 

2 cups flour 
1 tsp. salt 

3 tbsp. sugar 

4 tsp. baking powder 

Cut in 14 cup shortening. Add 
% cup milk. Mix and roll out to 



about % inch thickness. Spread 
with 4 chopped apples and % cup 
raisins. Roll up and slice in 11/2 
inch slices. Place cut side down in 
a pan of hot syrup, made with 2 
cups hot water and 11/2 cups sugar. 
Dot with butter and sprinkle with 
sugar and cinnamon. Bake in a 
moderate oven about 30 minutes 
or until lightly browned. Serve 
plain or with whipped cream. 

Alma Hohbs 

Dream Cake 

1 cup flour 
V2 cup butter 

2 tbsp. white sugar 

Cream well. Pack in square 
cake pan. 
Bake at 350 degrees 15 minutes. 

Filling 

2 eggs 

1 cup brown sugar 
% tsp. vanilla 

1 cup chopped walnuts 
1/2 cup cocoanut 



2 tbsp. flour 

pinch of salt 
1 tsp. baking powder 
Bake in moderate oven until 
golden brown. 

Mrs. Andrew Bennett 

Ship Wreck 

Into the bottom of a buttered 
baking dish slice 2 large onions. 
Over this place thin slices of five 
medium sized potatoes. Place a 
thick layer of hamburg (about 1 
lb) next, then 1/2 cup uncooked 
rice and 1 cup diced celery. Season 
each layer with salt and pepper. 
Top with 1 can of cream of tomato 
soup and 1 can of boiling water. 
Cover and bake two hours in a 
moderate oven. 

Mrs. Kenneth Campbell 

Recipe for Active Old Age 

loved my work, and on the 
whole, I have loved my fellow 
workers." 

[Ernest Thesigner, veteran Brit- 
ish actor, talking abont his fifty 
years on the stage.] 




A Pyrex baking dish is 
preferred by many and 
has remarkable qualities 
of endurance. One can 
take it right out of the 
ice box and put it into 
a hot oven without feor 
of breakage. 



May. 1959 



29 



Helpful Hints 

Season meat half-way through 
the cooking period rather than at 
the beginning. This helps to re- 
tain the flavour within the meat. 

Put a few drops of vinegar 
into the water in which you poach 
eggs. This will help to keep them 
firm, and prevent them from 
sticking to the pan. 

Warming raisins and currants 
before adding them to a cake not 
only improves the flavour but 
prevents them from collecting at 
the bottom. 

Mix a few grains of salt and 
mustard to ground coffee to im- 
prove the flavour. Mustard also 
helps to improve the flavour of 
instant coffee. 

Half a pound of American 
cheese will yield two cups of grated 
cheese. 

Half a pint of whipping cream 
yields 2 cups whipped. 

One medium orange gives ap- 
prox. 1/3 cup juice and the rind 
of this orange will pi^oduce 2 
tbsp. when grated. 



Distress Signals? 

''Always flatter men with col- 
oured waistcoats, beards, handle- 
bar moustaches, or any other 
^ distinguishing characteristic not 
^ put there by nature. They have 



assumed these odd things because 
they are not sure of themselves 
and wish to be noticed. Notice 
them kindly. It is quite easy and 
does no harm. I speak from ex- 
perience, as I too wear odd hats 
and have bright linings to my 
suits. I realize these are compen- 
sations for an unattractive ap- 
pearance and fear of criticism." 
[John Betjeman, British poet.] 

There's No Pleasing a Woman 

**When taken out to dine, wives 
do not choose what they would 
like, but instead the cheapest item 
on the menu. They decline to have 
a drink at all. They cannot resist 
peering at the bill, and they like 
to spoil the whole pleasure of the 
affair by announcing that it is far 
too expensive in any case. This is 
every bit as true of poached eggs 
on toast in a cafe as of caviare 
and champagne in • the greatest 
restaurants in the land. Now, none 
of this happen when they are not 
wives. But within a week of the 
ring going on, this reaction to 
being taken out is entirely normal. 
As a result it doesn't happen very 
often, leading to that frightful 
situation *You never take me out 
now !'" 

[Kevin Fitzgerald speaking 
about the oddities of women.] 



Feeling Cold? Scream! 

*'One cannot — so it strikes me 
— explain what it is like to be 
bitterly, unspeakably cold, because 
cold hurts in a way that heat does 
not, and there is some barrier in 
the mind which prevents us from 
bringing together the sensation of 
pain and the expression of it. The 
nearest one can get is a scream, 
and it has to be a genuine scream 
inspired by the pain of the mo- 
ment — you cannot write it down 
afterwards." 

[Gerald Priestland, British 
neivsman in the United States, 
describing a cold spell in Ottawa.'] 

The Teacher Taught 

"My students bring with them 
something I could never obtain 
for myself, because from all the 
corners of the globe they bring 
their lives, their understanding, 
their backgrounds, and above all, 
they bring themselves." 

[Stuart Milner, who teaches 
English in a London Technical 
College.] 



ADVERTISING DEADLINE 
JUNE 1st. 



{Continued from page 25) 
a sledge hammer. I wonder what 
he'll find wrong. Plenty, you may 
be sure. 

They went through the house. 
John Blair ahead, then the agent, 
then Angus. When John Blair 
looked at the floor, Angus looked 
looked at the ceiling, Angus looked 
loked at the ceiling, Angus looked 
at the floor. And only the agent 
talked. But finally the two Scots 
faced and their eyes held. John 
Blair said grudgingly, "Well, I 
suppose it will do." 

They went downstairs and when 
they got to the built-in cupboard, 
the old man's fingers ungnarled 
from his papers and he smacked 
j( them flat on the sideboard. He 
lU peeled a check from the top of the 
^ sheaf and handed it to Angus. 
I Angus looked at it. Nothing to 
^ complain about there. 
\^ Then John thrust out a second 
paper. ''Here," he said, this is 
yours too." 
Angus looked blank. 
John Blair didn't seem to relish 
explaining. ''Don't know what that 
daughter of mine ever saw in a 



pipe-tooting lunkhead like you, but 
she would have you. Been crying 
around ever since we left and 
telling me how I was all wrong 
about you. She drove me to this, 
so she did!" 
*'To what?" 

John faced his embarrassment 
frankly. He said, "Angus, this 
was a trap to catch you. It was 
myself that put old Pete up to 
tempting you like that. I thought 
up the whole idea and then I 
went home to Jean and I told her 
and I said, 'Now we'll see once and 
for all what this man of yours is 
made of. And if I'm right, I'm ex- 
pecting to hear no more of him. If 
I'm wrong he can have my apolo- 
gies and my daughter too'... That's 
how much I thought of you, Angus. 
Well, I'm apologizing now and my 
daughter's outside in the car. And 
here's the deed to the house." 

It was too sudden and too much 
for Angus. "I can't take it, John. I 
won't." 

"Then I'll give it to Jean. It's 
all the same. She'll take it." 

At the door he paused and 
Angus thought he saw a bit of 



smile teasing the old man's lips. 
"All right, drat it. You two have 
had your way, so why aren't you 
happy about it?" 

And when Angus came to life 
he cried, "Jeannie! Where are 
you, Jeannie?" 

She was coming up the pathway, 
running, laughing, crying, and 
otherwise acting in that rather 
pitiful way women have of ex- 
pressing ecstasy. But this time 
Angus ran too. She melted into his 
hungry arms and nestled the 
smooth warmth of her cheek 
against the stubble of his own. 
"Do you understand now?" she 
asked. 

He hugged her tighter and 
looked over the softness of her 
shoulder at the house. Their 
house! It was a wonderful feeling 
until he thought of that day at 
the lumberyard again — that day 
when the devil sat on his shoulder. 
For one awful moment he shud- 
dered. But the next instant he felt 
marvelous again. He almost wished 
he had brought his bagpipes along. 

But for once the bagpipes could 
wait till morning. 



30 



Macdonald Farm Journal 



Path of the 
Pioneer 

TO anyone who can recall the 
twenties, the sight of an old 
steam engine brings back many a 
fond memory. For in those burst- 
ing days of gay plenty when the 
world was beginning to move too 
fast for the horse but was as yet 
unconvinced that gasoline was safe 
to use for anything but cleaning the 
spots off trousers, the steam engine 
was the undisputed monarch of the 
farm. 

Threshing day in that balmy age 
was an event that for an eager farm 
lad, rivalled fair day and Hal- 
lowe'en night in its appeal. The 
steam engine, complete with belch- 
ing stack and shrieking whistle 
could be heard long before it could 
be seen, and when it finally came 
in sight pulling its separator and 
water tank behind it, it was the sig- 
nal for all the children and dogs 
of the household to rush out to 
meet it. 

The coming of the old time steam 
threshing engine meant a houseful 
of good food and humoured neigh- 
bors as well, for threshing in those 
days required a crew of at least a 
dozen men and sometimes many 
more. 

In the west, the steamer was also 
given the job of breaking sod, a 
task seldom granted in the east, and 
when the first gasoline tractors tried 
to take the job away from it, the 
arguments about the worth of the 
two forms of power were often as 
spirited and stubborn as a debate 
over politics or religion. 

The last steamer made in Canada 
seems to have been manufactured 
by George White & Co. at London, 
Ontario about 1925, but the indes- 
tructible nature of the iron horses 
kept many of them in use many 
years after that. 

So many men have shared the 
lovely memories of the old steam- 
ers that several museums have 
sprung up in Canada to preserve 
those machines still remaining. One 
of these is near Forest, Ontario, 
another at Wetaskawin, Alta., and 
the most celebrated is the Western 
Development Museum at Saskatoon, 
which provided these pictures. 




I.H.C. Reaper. This machine preceded the binder about 1880. 




32-120 Reeves and 12 bottom plough. Such outfits broke much of the 

virgin prairie sod. 




A group of prairie steamers at the Western Development Museum, 

Saskatoon. 




8-16 Mogul I.H.C. primitive model of a gas tractor. 



Now is the Time to Buy 

LANDRACE! 




'Something to talk about! 



The merits of this great Danish bacon breed can no longer be in doubt. As a pure- 
bred it earned the highest average Advanced Registry score of any of the four breeds 
tested last year. (Average score for Landrace for 1958 was 84. Yorkshire 80, Lacombe 83.) 

And in its first year of competition as a major breed, the Landrace won the carcass 
championship at the 1958 Royal Winter Fair. 

But to its stellar qualities as a purebred must also be added its phenomenal capability 
as a crossing animal. Crossed with the Yorkshire, the Landrace produces a pig of marked 
superiority in mothering ability, growth rate and feed efficiency. And recent official tests 
have shown that the progeny of such a crossbred sow, mated back to either Landrace or 
York will grade over 20% more A's. 

Crosses with other breeds or combinations of breeds show equal promise. 

Is it any wonder that in the year just past the Landrace has trebled its registrations 
in Canada? 

Send stamp today for a sample copy of "The Canadian Landrace Bulletin'' 

You II be surprised! 

The Canadian Landrace Swine Ass'n 

Ormstown, Que.